Building Clan Uzumaki
by Nate Grey
Summary: Temari finds a third brother in Naruto, but standing with him also means making a place for herself in Konoha, by force if necessary. Yet another sidestory to White Dog Night.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I'm not getting paid, and I doubt most people bother to read this part, anyway.

Notes: This is yet another side story to "White Dog Night," but only a oneshot. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about Naruto and Temari, so I wrote this as a way of preparing readers for the time skip. This takes place shortly before Part 5 of White Dog Night.

Summary: Temari reflects on her bond with Naruto, and his dream of making a name and a family for himself.

**Building Clan Uzumaki**

**Companion to "White Dog Night"**

**A Naruto Ficlet by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

Temari remembered that very odd day all too clearly, even now.

She had just given a detailed but brief report on her intentions in Konoha to the Godaime Hokage. At first, she had been dead set against the idea of being a liaison between the two villages. It would keep her away from home, and more importantly, away from her brothers. Her official reason, however, had been that Konoha should have been sending a liaison to them, not the other way around.

But Gaara had ended all her complaints with a single sentence.

"I want someone I trust to be with Naruto, in case his curse should ever become like mine."

Temari knew better than to question him on it, since Gaara so rarely spoke about his own curse, even with her. That he would even bother showed how serious he was, and she had agreed without further protest.

She had barely set foot outside of Tsunade's office when Naruto ran up, full of questions about Gaara and what was happening in Suna lately. Temari's answers were short and vague, mostly because she was tired and wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep. Naruto seemed to sense this, because he eventually asked where she was staying while in Konoha. Tsunade had taken care of Temari's lodging arrangements, and she told him as much.

"But you don't really want to stay alone, do you?" Naruto had asked. "Hey, I know! You can stay at my place!"

Temari had brushed off his offer at once, but Naruto kept insisting that it was his duty as Gaara's good friend to make sure she was well taken care of. Ironic, since she was technically here to do the same for him, though she didn't tell him that. Finally, she'd agreed just to shut him up, and because she was curious to see how Naruto lived compared to the way Gaara did.

The answer? Very differently.

Gaara's rooms had always been a step away from being bare, and the one he used now contained only the things necessary to carry out his duties as Kazekage.

Naruto's home was full of more scrolls and books than Temari had ever seen outside of a library. There were manuals on practically everything a ninja might ever need to know.

It was then that she realized something important about Naruto. Being a ninja was incredibly difficult for him, and he'd probably had to study and re-study all of these to even reach his current level of skill. It also meant that Naruto's curse didn't make such things second nature for him as Gaara's did. Naruto had worked hard for every talent he possessed, though you would never know it from just looking at him.

As he lived alone, Naruto had plenty of space for her, and even gave Temari her own room. It was mostly just the basics: bed, desk, and bare walls. Temari knew she'd have to add her own style if she planned on staying there long. And then she realized that she would be there for a long time; looking after Naruto would take years, not a few days. But Naruto hadn't said how long he was willing to let her stay with him, and it was probably better to settle that right away.

"You want to leave already?" was Naruto's response to her question. "It's not that bad, is it?"

It really wasn't, and Temari said so. She got the distinct feeling that he really wanted her to stay, for some reason. Probably he was just lonely, if he'd grown up this way. And she would rather stay with someone amusing who knew Gaara personally, than with a stranger, or by herself.

The only bad thing about Naruto's place was his taste in food, which didn't extend past ramen at all. Temari liked it fine every now and then, but not every single day. She figured if she started doing the shopping for both of them, Naruto would eventually get tired of watching her eat something different every meal and try some of her choices. She was only half-right: Naruto began eating her choices along with his usual ramen bowl. But Temari was just satisfied that she'd influenced him at all, and wasn't stuck with nothing but ramen every night.

Temari had never made all that many efforts to talk to Naruto in the past, and now, she couldn't imagine why. Their conversations came easy, and were even fun. He seemed to know instinctively what topics would interest her, and steered away from the ones that would be too personal, unless she offered first. And, increasingly, Temari found that she could talk to him about things she wouldn't dare to with anyone but her brothers. It wasn't as if Naruto was bad with secrets; he'd been keeping his own for quite a while now. Aside from that, he took his friendship with Gaara very seriously, and the loyalty automatically extended to Temari as well.

And yet, it was more than that, she knew. When she had first moved in with him, Temari only considered Naruto a friend of Gaara's, and little else. But as the days turned into weeks and then months, she started to think of Naruto as her friend, and used Gaara to define that friendship less and less. And when that simple label no longer seemed to do him justice, Temari came to think of Naruto as another one of her brothers. He was enough like them in ways that she was all too familiar with, but different enough to be refreshing. Like Gaara, Naruto had his brooding moments, and like Kankurou, he was also proud and impulsive. Completely unlike them, however, he was in a cheerful mood almost twenty hours out of every day.

Naruto seemed to share her feelings, because he often spoke to her in a tone that suggested familiarity, and at the same time, respect, as if saying the wrong thing would earn him a quick swat from his big sister (it had on occasion, but still). The fact that she was slightly taller than him probably had something to do with it, as did the fact that Temari was physically stronger. She had asked Naruto to bring her fan to her once, and each time she even hinted at doing so again, he suddenly developed a bad back. She couldn't really blame him, as she'd carried that fan for most of her life, and the strength necessary to wield it easily had come eventually. But Naruto didn't depend on any one weapon all the time, and certainly nothing as heavy and draining as her fan, so he lacked the stamina (or more precisely, the will) needed to handle it properly.

But this wasn't to say that Naruto was weak by any means. Like Gaara, he had an abundance of chakra to draw from, and tended to put that fact to good use in a fight. He was the only other genin Temari had met capable of performing a summoning. Of course, even a successful summoning didn't always guarantee an obedient creature, and Temari had to resist the urge to snicker whenever she saw Naruto trying to reach a compromise with Gamabunta. It really was like a fly trying to bargain with a giant frog, but she kept that image to herself. She'd never had such problems with Kamatari, but then she approached summoning with a much more mature and respectful attitude than Naruto did, and liked to think Kamatari's loyalty was her reward.

But as much as Temari enjoyed living with Naruto, even that adventure had come with some obstacles.

* * *

"Hey, Temari, am I ugly?" Naruto asked quietly.

She blinked, having just been roused from a rather comfortable nap. "What?" she sighed, rolling over to gaze blearily up at his anxious face.

"Do you think I'm ugly?"

Temari stared at him for a few seconds. "Yeah, you're hideous," she muttered, closing her eyes and burying her face in the pillow.

"I'm serious!" he insisted, shaking her shoulder.

"Well, I'm not. And you don't want me to be. Because if I were, you'd be dead already. Now go away and let me sleep."

"Temari, please! This is important!"

"No, it isn't," she muttered. "Nothing is ever important enough to wake me up. If you enjoy the use of both your arms, you'll accept that quickly. Like now, for instance."

"Please, neechan?" he whined in his best kiddy voice.

"What do you care if you're ugly?" she said at last, glaring at him. "Just wear a mask like Kakashi, and no one would ever need to know. Girls like that mysterious crap."

"But do you think I'm ugly?" Naruto pressed.

"Does it matter? I'm not going to date you."

"Yes, it matters! Because I know you won't lie to me."

"Come back in an hour. Then I'll be awake, rested, and less likely to want to rip your face off."

"I can't wait that long," Naruto replied. "In an hour I have to be somewhere, and there'll be a girl I like there..."

"The pinkhead?" Temari groaned. "Again, Naruto?"

"What?" he asked defensively. "What's wrong with Sakura-chan?"

"I'd rather not get into it." Temari reached out and grabbed his arm. "Do you trust me?"

Naruto nodded. "You know I do."

"Do you believe I want what's best for you? That I'd try to save you from pain if I could?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Give up on her, Naruto. It would never work. You wanted my opinion, and that's it. I'd feel different if Sakura actually felt the same as you do. I still wouldn't like her, but if she made you happy, that wouldn't matter. But that's not the case here, and you know it."

He didn't say anything as she let go of his arm.

"You're not ugly, little bro. But it wouldn't matter if you were, because Sakura wouldn't even notice. Do yourself a favor and take the advice of someone you know would never hurt you. She's no good for you. And I know you're pissed at me now, so go on. I'll be here when you're ready to talk to me again."

Naruto left without saying a word, and Temari sighed into her pillow. She didn't like being so rough with him, but she knew a heartbreak with Sakura would be even worse. There was also the added danger that Naruto's curse might react badly to Sakura rejecting him.

But most importantly, Temari suspected that Naruto didn't really love Sakura, if he ever even had to begin with. He was far more sensitive whenever the subject of Hinata came up. Temari remembered the shy girl with large, pale eyes only vaguely, but everyone she'd talked to was of the opinion that Hinata had always been rather obvious in her feelings for Naruto. She wasn't sure what had happened between them, because it was one of the few things Naruto refused to discuss with her.

Temari wasn't so easy to fool. If Hinata hadn't meant anything to Naruto, there would be nothing to hide. The only real problem that she could see was that Hinata was a missing-nin, and Naruto seemed unwilling to find her himself. Sakura, on the other hand, was a kunoichi in good standing, and therefore relatively safe by comparison. But Temari had a feeling that if Hinata ever showed up again, Sakura would be the last thing on Naruto's mind. The trick was getting him to see that.

She was convinced it was possible, for her, at least. Naruto put up a good front, but Temari knew that he always listened to her, even when he didn't like what he heard. They had become too close for her not to realize how much her opinion meant to him. But Temari had never given her approval to anyone so easily, and she had known from the moment she laid eyes on Sakura that the pink-haired girl wasn't going to get it.

Even though Temari hadn't known Naruto then, it had probably been the way Sakura treated him that left a bad taste in her mouth. Anyone who treated a teammate the way Sakura had, well... it just wasn't a good idea to rough up the people who had to watch your back without a good reason. And since Sakura didn't have a demon buried inside her, there was simply no excuse for the way she'd reacted to Naruto.

Naruto could never see that, blinded by puppy love as he was. He was so anxious to win Sakura's heart that Temari often had to give him a cold but healthy dose of reality. In her opinion, Naruto was better off staying single than ending up with Sakura. She had even mentioned this to him once, but the fearful look on his face afterwards had made Temari take it back. He'd spent so much of his life alone, and would do anything to keep from going back to that cold, dark existence... including marrying someone he only had a childhood crush on.

* * *

Naruto still hadn't said a word to her the next morning, but Temari knew he wouldn't stay quiet for much longer.

Sure enough, he finally spoke to her a few hours later.

"I want my own clan. But I'm never going to get one if I don't do something. Sakura-chan would make a great-"

"Why does it have to be her?" Temari interrupted. "If you're so desperate for a family, why put all your hopes on one girl, Naruto? You should be chasing down any girl that will look at you for more than five seconds."

"I guess... it doesn't have to be Sakura-chan," Naruto admitted reluctantly. "But she's so-"

"Are you telling me you've never met a girl that was more into you than Sakura is?" She could practically see the way Naruto's face started to close up, but managed to stop it, for the first time, by placing her hand over his and squeezing lightly.

"There was one," Naruto sighed. "But... she left Konoha a long time ago."

"So you just gave up on her?" Temari demanded. "This from the person who still believes he can bring Sasuke back? What's the difference, Naruto?"

"Sasuke was drawn away by evil. I have to save him. But she... she left to escape evil. I don't have any right to bring her back."

"You damn well do, if she's willing to be the mother of your children!"

Naruto's face grew pale. "You mean... kids? With... Hinata?" He honestly looked as if he'd never even considered the idea, and yet... he seemed shocked, not repulsed. Perhaps there was hope for this unlikely union even now.

Temari was about to congratulate herself on a job well done when Naruto said something that brought her celebration to a screeching halt.

"Hey... you're a girl, neechan."

"And what of it?" Temari snapped, drawing her hand back rather quickly. She hadn't thought Naruto would be that desperate, but...

"You could have a kid with some guy!" Naruto exclaimed happily. "And I'd be an uncle!"

Temari almost mentally kicked herself for thinking ill of Naruto. Almost. But the idea that he was trying to marry her off to the first random guy that came along wasn't exactly winning him any points in her book. "I'm not just going to-"

"Shikamaru! I bet even he'd get off his lazy butt if you-"

"Hold it! Look, I don't mind helping you out with this clan business, but I was thinking more of an advisory role, not actually popping out babies."

"But if things don't work out for me," Naruto pleaded, "I'll need someone to carry on the Uzumaki name!"

Temari only stared at him. He had joked, several times in the past, that people assumed the worst about them living together, and that she could always take his name to add to the scandal. But recently, it had been less a joke and more a plea, as a way of ensuring that Naruto wouldn't be the last of his clan. Truthfully, Temari didn't actually mind the idea so much (the look on Gaara's face alone would be worth it), assuming she found herself a husband open-minded enough to be associated with Naruto by name, anyway. Probably it would have to be someone lazy who didn't care what his family name was... and she quickly forced that idea out of her head.

"Why don't we just try your luck first and see where that gets us, okay?" Temari suggested firmly.

* * *

Temari had known her extended stay in Konoha wasn't a permanent one, though she hadn't considered how hard it would be when she finally did have to leave. And when Suna's fastest, most reliable message bird, Takamaru, landed in front of Naruto's apartment one day, she knew her time was up.

Sure enough, Takamaru was carrying a scroll with the Kazekage's seal on it, and the message within directed her to leave the village the very next day. Despite how much she didn't want to go, Temari took the bird inside, fed him, and proceeded to pack everything she would need. She had no idea what she would say to Naruto, or how he would react to her suddenly leaving him all alone. But it wasn't as if she could ignore instructions from Gaara, either.

As it turned out, Naruto completely surprised her. He came home, saw she was all packed, and immediately asked if there was anything she needed from him before she left. She must have looked thunderstruck, because he gave her one of his easy grins and a big hug.

"I'll miss you, neechan," he whispered in her ear. "But I can't ask you to stay. Whatever Gaara wants, he's asking as the Kazekage, not just your brother, and he's depending on you. Just like I'll depend on you one day, when I become the next Hokage."

Temari swallowed hard, blinking back tears. "Great. And I guess you'll expect me to do everything you say, too?"

"Don't worry, I won't ask for much," Naruto promised. "Maybe just a niece and a nephew..."

"Oh, you're real funny," she grumbled, giving him a playful swat on the ear.

"So does that mean you won't be stopping by Shikamaru's place to say goodbye?" he teased.

Temari glared at him, her cheeks glowing red. "Shut up."

* * *

"So you're headed out, huh?" Shikamaru asked casually. "Must be a real bother to have to do everything your younger brother says."

Temari shrugged slightly. "It's not so bad. He's Kazekage for a reason, you know. And even if he demands more of me than I'm willing to give, it's never more than I actually can give. Gaara knows me well enough to tell the difference."

"You trust him, then?"

"Well, someone has to," she replied with a smirk. "You obviously don't."

"I'm not supposed to," Shikamaru pointed out. "Don't you know? Brothers and boyfriends are natural enemies."

Temari grinned wickedly. "Oh yeah? I didn't know you and Kankurou were so close."

He made a sound that was half-snort, half-grunt. "It's cracks like that that make me wonder if you're worth the trouble."

"Hmm. I know I'm a better kisser than him," she offered airily.

"No argument here. But you could prove it more often."

"You wouldn't like me nearly as much if I just gave in every time you asked. You have to work for something this good, Shika-kun."

Shikamaru sighed and closed his eyes. "Damn, you're a troublesome woman."

"True," Temari agreed as she tapped his lips lightly with a finger. "But for now, I'm your troublesome woman, and you're my brilliant bum. And so long as you keep me happy, that's the way it'll stay."

His only response was a muttered, noncommittal noise, but she could see the way his eyes shone with pleasure as he stared at her.

"If things go really well, I could be back in a few months. So don't go too far, okay? I'll be mad if I have to track you down."

"Hmmph. It'd be no more than you deserve for being such a tease," he grunted.

"Careful, Shika-kun. You don't want me to tell Gaara that you broke my heart."

"As if any part of you could ever break," Shikamaru murmured, tracing a path along her jaw with his finger. "Oh. There's something I've been wondering about. You said Gaara sent you here to keep Naruto out of trouble?"

"Pretty much," Temari said softly, closing her eyes and leaning into his touch. "What about it?"

"I don't think that's the reason at all. I think he sent you so Naruto wouldn't be alone."

Her eyes snapped open. "Really?"

"Yeah. I don't think it's even possible to keep Naruto out of trouble. I'm surprised you didn't find that excuse suspicious when you heard it." A thoughtful frown appeared on his face. "Haven't you ever noticed the way some people around here look at Naruto?"

"I assumed they were looking at me," Temari admitted. "I'm the one that nearly helped destroy the village."

"Except they've always looked at him like that, even before you showed up. It never really seemed to bother him, but I bet he was faking it. But after you came, I think it really didn't bother him, because he at least had you to look at him differently."

"And how do you look at him?" she asked.

He shrugged. "There were times when I thought he was a real moron. But he didn't have a family like the rest of us. It's not right to blame him for his own misfortunes that we didn't have to suffer through ourselves. So I guess... for the way he wasn't raised, he turned out as well as could be expected."

Smiling softly, Temari leaned in and kissed the corner of his mouth.

"What was that for?" Shikamaru asked in surprise, his face turning red.

"For being the perfect guy for me," she replied, giving him a little wave as she ran off.

**The End.**

* * *

Endnotes:

I should point out what I mean when I say Temari is physically stronger than Naruto. And note that these points refer to Naruto in his normal, non-Kyuubi powered state. Basically, two images come to mind.

1) Temari would have an easier time bench-pressing Naruto's weight than he would hers, but this is again due to the fact that Temari handles a great weight practically every moment of every day of her life (her fan).

2) Temari more than likely has more muscle mass than Naruto. Naruto's muscles are more obvious, but we know how deceptively strong ninja can be.

To me, Sakura never fully seems to grasp that Sasuke and Naruto's backgrounds are very similar: both ended up virtually raising themselves because they had no clan. In Sasuke's case, his clan was taken from him, and if Naruto ever had one, he doesn't remember it at all. Yet Sakura doesn't change her treatment of Naruto all that much, even after she figures out how he must feel to be an outcast. Admittedly, she does talk to him more, but she's still just as quick to hit him, while she would never raise a hand to Sasuke. Maybe this is because she sees Naruto as being more mischievous and childlike (and therefore in need of a good swat from time to time). But somehow I think it has more to do with maintaining her popularity early on: everyone else likes Sasuke and dislikes Naruto, so she does, too. Sakura grows out of this, thankfully, and even then it might only be because Naruto had been out of her life for two years, and Sasuke is no longer around.

* * *

**Omake!**

There were only three reasons why Yamanaka Ino might run as if her life depended on it.

1) If her life actually did depend on it.

2) If Sakura had challenged her to yet another footrace.

3) If Ino had the juiciest gossip in town.

Currently, she was running like mad for the third reason. Ino was practically drooling as she finally reached Ichiraki Ramen, the news was so juicy. Immediately spotting the familiar pink hair of Sakura among the customers, Ino shoved her way through the crowd, only to find her friend seated next to Tenten of all people.

Well, some friendships had to be sacrificed in the name of gossip.

"Sakura! You'll never guess what I just heard!" Ino gasped, all but shoving them apart so she could sit between them.

Sakura just barely managed to not spill her ramen bowl at Ino's rather rough shoulder bump. "What is it, Ino?" she sighed.

"It's that perv, Naruto! I heard he asked Temari to move in with him!"

There was a loud shattering sound, and both girls turned to see that Tenten, despite having no trouble saving her bowl from spilling at Ino's interruption, had somehow managed to pierce straight through it, and the counter below it, with her chopsticks. The look on her face was one of absolute rage, so neither of them thought to mention that her lap was getting soaked with ramen.

"Well," Sakura said slowly, getting Ino's attention, "it's not like she would ever agree to something like that." She picked up her glass of water to take a drink.

"But that's just it!" Ino continued in a scandalized tone. "She said yes!"

Instantly, the glass in Sakura's hand shattered, sending water and glass shards flying in all directions.

"WHAT!" Sakura screeched, grabbing Ino and shaking her.

"It's true!" Ino insisted. "I saw them leaving Naruto's house today! They were laughing and touching each other!"

"Touching?" Sakura cried. "They can't do that! When I get my hands on that Naruto, I'll-"

"Don't bother," Tenten interrupted, frowning. "It's not his fault."

Sakura stared at her in complete disbelief. "How could it not be his fault? It's… it's Naruto!"

"You obviously don't know Temari like I do," Tenten sighed, shaking her head. "I'd bet anything she tricked him into begging her to stay with him."

Ino and Sakura traded confused looks.

"Why would she even bother?" Ino asked at last. "I mean... it's Naruto!"

"It's also free room and board," Tenten pointed out. "And I bet all it's going to cost her is something she's all too willing to give away: her body."

Ino and Sakura gasped loudly.

"You mean she's actually going to... with HIM?" Ino murmured, still shocked. "But... but it's... it's..."

"It's NARUTO!" Sakura finished for her.

"And do you really think she cares who it is?" Tenten snapped. "A girl like that will do anything to get what she wants. She probably only picked him because-"

"He's an idiot?" Ino supplied.

"Probably."

"Well, I still say Naruto needs a good pounding for this," Sakura muttered darkly, cracking her knuckles. "I'll teach him to sleep around with the first tramp that-"

"Wait a minute." Tenten gazed intently at Sakura. "You don't hate Temari?"

Sakura blinked. "Um... not really. What does that matter?"

"But... if you're not mad at her, and you know Naruto's stupid, then why do you even care at all?"

The pink-haired girl stared blankly at her. "Um... well... see, it's not... I mean..."

"Hey..." Ino said slowly. "Sakura, you don't... like Naruto or anything, do you?"

"Of course not!" Sakura shouted at once. "Don't be stupid, Ino-pig!"

"Back off, forehead girl! You're the one that went nuts when you found out that Naruto was taken!" Ino then whipped around to face Tenten. "Anyway, I bet I know why you hate Temari. You're just sore because she beat you in the chuunin exam."

Tenten opened her mouth, but Sakura cut her off. "Who cares about that? I'm going to get those two away from each other!" She jumped up, fully intending to carry out her threat.

"I don't think you'll have to do much," Tenten said quietly. "Look."

At that moment, Temari was walking past the ramen stand, but Naruto was nowhere in sight. This was probably a good thing, since Shikamaru was in sight, and Temari had her arm wound through his, though he seemed slightly annoyed by that fact.

"Ino," Sakura said slowly, "when you said you saw Temari and Naruto touching each other, exactly how were they touching?"

"She had her arm around his neck," Ino replied firmly.

"Like they were about to kiss?" Tenten guessed.

"No... more like they were buddies or something."

Sakura and Tenten glared at her.

"What? They were touching! Guys and girls don't touch each other without a good reason behind it!"

"Well, I'm about to touch you," Sakura growled, sticking her fist in Ino's face. "Let's see how fast you figure out the reason behind it!"

"You just try it! I can take you easy, Sakura," Ino laughed, more than willing to fight... that is, until a hand came down on her shoulder.

"Oh, she won't be alone," Tenten remarked, a smug grin on her face.

"Hey, wait!" Ino protested as they started to drag her away. "This isn't fair! It's two on one!"

Tenten jabbed her roughly in the ribs. "All's fair in love and war."

"And this is most definitely war," Sakura added nastily.

"Fine! See if I ever try to keep you two in the loop again!" Ino wailed as she increased her struggles.


	2. Into the Mists

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, I'm not getting paid for this.

Notes: This might have made a decent first chapter of "Building Clan Uzumaki," but since I didn't think of it until later, now I don't quite know where it goes. Incidentally, the omake from the first chapter was the inspiration for this chapter.

Summary: Sakura is gradually losing the only teammate she has left, and it's all Temari's fault. So how can she possibly trust the Sand jounin when their lives are on the line? The problem is, she may not have a choice...

**Into the Mists**

**Chapter 2 of Building Clan Uzumaki**

**A Naruto Ficlet by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

* * *

Haruno Sakura was not jealous. She didn't get jealous, and that's all there was to it.

Besides, there was nothing to be jealous of.

But she was really starting to wish that Temari had never come to Konoha. Amazingly, this had nothing to do with her psychopath of a brother, Gaara. It just seemed that whenever Temari was involved, things went wrong, or at least they did in Sakura's opinion. She had yet to meet anyone that actually liked the Sand-nin, save Naruto (and that was part of the problem).

Tsunade insisted that good relations with Suna were important, especially now that Gaara had become Kazekage. And while she never came out and said it, Sakura secretly thought the Godaime Hokage wasn't completely comfortable with Temari's relationship with Naruto, either.

Ino seemed to think that Temari was just living the way she always had in Suna, but that she should've made more of an effort to fit in if she were going to stay in Konoha for extended periods as she had been. So while she didn't actually dislike Temari, there were things about her that Ino didn't care for (shacking up with Naruto seemed to be the main one, as it was for most people).

Tenten had been edgy around Temari... well, pretty much always. But either out of respect or fear, she never actually went so far as to badmouth the Sand-nin. Mostly she said things like, "I just don't like her; I don't have a good reason for it, though." More likely she was just embarrassed to admit the real reason, but Sakura thought it was more than Tenten's pride that kept her from liking Temari.

Neji didn't particularly like anyone, but he clearly hated Temari. Sakura wasn't really sure why, either. But whenever Temari was mentioned, he got this... look in his eyes that put her in mind of Gaara, which was of course frightening. But then, Neji didn't much care for Naruto as it was.

Any other boy's opinion was no real help. They seemed to run between being terribly jealous of Naruto, and wondering what Temari could possibly see in him. Sakura had wondered the latter herself, and had yet to decide what the attraction was. Sure, Naruto had matured somewhat, and filled out a bit so that he didn't look a complete mess. But deep down, she knew he was still the impulsive idiot that would follow her around all day, if she'd let him. At least, he would have before Temari came into his life.

Sakura could clearly see the attraction on Naruto's part. Temari was about a head taller than her, possessed piercing dark green eyes, and had grown a pair of legs so willowy that Sakura doubted there was a single male in the entire village that hadn't given them an appreciative glance or five. But the bad news didn't end there: Temari was exotic, powerful, and confident; all apparently things that greatly interested Naruto.

There was no avoiding Temari, either. She had invaded Naruto's life at every level, and the two were rarely seen apart. Had Sakura been so inclined, she might have decided to try and convince Tsunade that Temari was too possessive, to the point where she might negatively impact Naruto's willingness to leave Konoha on missions. But every time she saw Naruto with Temari, whether they were devouring ungodly amounts of ramen between them, sparring, or simply walking home (with Temari's arm invariably draped around Naruto's neck), one thing never changed: Naruto truly looked happy, happier than Sakura had ever seen him.

Even if Temari was just using him, as some of the rumors claimed, Sakura refused to be the one to tell him, unless there was just no other choice. So far, Temari had done nothing that might indicate she didn't genuinely care for him in return. If anything, the problem was that she cared too much. No one could get near Naruto without having to go through Temari. For most people that been in Naruto's life before, this was easy, as he told her who was welcome and who wasn't. But in Sakura's case, Temari seemed to always drag Naruto away before two words were exchanged. Yet Sakura could still spot the giddy grin on Naruto's face while Temari dragged him off, so it wasn't as if he had stopped liking her. Unfortunately, that meant it was all Temari, who Sakura just couldn't figure out.

She grew to resent Temari's monopolozing of Naruto's time, especially since he was the only teammate she had left, and she had no intention of losing him to some stuck-up blonde with long legs. Getting Naruto back (or at least being able to talk to him freely) became Sakura's number one priority, but the opportunity just never presented itself. She couldn't get Naruto alone, and talking to Temari, or anyone else, was useless. And just when it began to look like Sakura had lost Naruto for good, she got what could very well be her final chance to reconnect with him.

* * *

Sakura had never been so glad to get a mission, and would probably be smiling all week. Kakashi had delivered the B-rank assignment in person, saying that she and Naruto were to meet up with him this morning and leave shortly afterwards. And from all indications, he was trusting them to handle the mission without his supervision (it was fairly straightforward scroll retrieval, nothing more). However, she would have done well to remember Kakashi's old lesson of seeing through deception, because when Naruto showed up, he was not alone.

It took a great deal of willpower for Sakura not to explode when she spotted Temari accompanying Naruto yet again. But when she saw that Temari was packed to travel as well, it became too much to ignore.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted excitedly. To her surprise, he ran up and hugged her tightly. It had been a while since they'd spent any time together, so it wasn't exactly unwelcome, but Naruto was rarely so forward with her (if only out of fear of what she'd do to him). Still, it was a nice change, and so she felt completely justified to make a show of returning the embrace, since she knew Temari was watching.

Temari's only response was to smirk and cross her arms over her chest. She didn't look at all bothered by the display, and Sakura wondered if this was because Temari was confident that Naruto's mind, body, and soul were already her personal property.

Naruto picked up on the tension in the air when no one spoke. "Um, you remember Sakura-chan, don't you, neechan?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah," Temari answered flatly, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Sakura threw a confused look at Naruto. That was a very odd thing to call a girlfriend. Even stranger, Temari didn't seem to mind at all.

"This is great!" Naruto exclaimed, as if he wanted his good mood to infect them both. He slipped an arm around each of their waists, pulling them closer together. "I get to go on a mission with my two favorite girls!"

"About that," Sakura said at once. "I don't remember Kakashi-sensei saying anything about this being a three-person mission."

"Is that what I said?" Kakashi asked, scratching his head as he appeared in front of them. "I must be getting forgetful in my old age. I don't recall specifying that only you and Naruto would be going on this mission."

"You told me that Naruto and I would be going on a mission without you!" Sakura insisted hotly.

"That, I did say," Kakashi agreed with a nod. "And as flattered as I am by the implication, I am not the only other person in the world, Sakura. As it turns out, Temari was available, and offered to come along just to make sure things went smoothly. Her presence is what ultimately convinced me to let you two go on this mission without me. I knew it wouldn't be a problem, since teamwork was one of the very first lessons we covered."

Sakura drew her lips into a thin line. He was right, of course, but she didn't have to like it. Especially not with the evil way Temari was currently grinning at her.

"So, I trust I don't need to go over specifics with two well-trained chuunin such as yourselves?" Kakashi asked, glancing at Naruto and Sakura.

"Just leave it to us, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto replied with a laugh. "We'll be back before you even have a chance to miss us!"

"Somehow, I'm not worried about that at all, Naruto," Kakashi replied, and Sakura could tell he was smiling behind his mask. "Well, I'll expect to see you again by the end of the month, more or less in one piece. And if none of you are dead, I might be persuaded to treat you all to a bowl of ramen later."

Sakura frowned at him. "Kakashi-sensei, you say that like you expect us to die! I think we've proven that we can handle ourselves on a B-ranked mission."

"Oh, I don't think it's enemies you'll need to worry about, Sakura," Kakashi murmured as he vanished into thin air. And maybe she was imagining it, but it seemed like he'd been looking at Temari when he said that.

"So, everybody ready?" Naruto asked, eager to get started.

Sakura started to respond, but Temari chose that moment to set the tone of the entire mission.

"You know, if this were Suna, and one of us died on the mission, all of their possessions would be divided among the surviving two."

Naruto stared at her in confusion. "Uh... why would you say something like that, neechan? None of us are going to die!"

"I know," Temari replied. "It's just that I always wondered what I'd look like with pink highlights." She aimed a blinding smile at Sakura before turning away. "C'mon, let's go! I've never had to wait on a teammate, and I'm not about to start now!"

"We'd better keep up; she walks pretty fast," Naruto muttered to Sakura. That he said it with such certainty only made Sakura more aware that this was going to be a very long trip. Still, when Naruto grabbed her hand and tugged her along after him, Sakura decided that there might still be some silver lining to this particular dark cloud.

* * *

By the third day of their mission, Sakura came to realize that Kakashi had been right about enemies not being the real problem. The only thing more draining than constantly being in Temari's presence was having to listen to her. Oddly enough, Temari had barely said anything that first day, but from that point on, it was like she needed to talk to survive. Her choice of topics generally focused on the way things were done in Suna (most of which would unfailingly result in some type of misfortune for someone like Sakura). Sakura doubted any of these were true, but wasn't sure how Naruto would react if she called Temari a liar in front of him.

Naruto was treating all of Temari's "Suna rules" as jokes, and would even laugh at some of them. But just as often he would look at Sakura while doing so, as if he wanted her to laugh, too. She never did, but she managed weak smiles for his sake. Naruto was clearly trying to make her feel included, and while Sakura appreciated the effort, she also knew Temari's behavior wasn't about to suddenly change for the better.

Even more frustrating was the ambiguous nature of Naruto and Temari's relationship. He continued to call her 'neechan' as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and she would frequently respond by tousling his hair roughly, draping her arm around his neck, or even giving him a peck on the cheek if she was in a good enough mood. None of these things ever drew more than an easy smile from Naruto, though, which Sakura found amazing to say the least. Had she done any of those things to Naruto, especially the latter, she had no doubt that he'd turn red for at least five minutes.

From this, she concluded that Naruto definitely didn't consider Temari his girlfriend. But Temari still seemed far too possessive to be anything else, and they were obviously very close (and much closer than Sakura had ever thought of herself as being with Naruto). If Naruto hadn't been making constant attempts to get Sakura involved in the conversations, she might have assumed that he was a lost cause. But she could tell that whatever he felt for Temari was just as real, and somehow that made it even harder to talk to him.

* * *

Sakura's first real chance to talk to Naruto alone came on the fifth night of their trip. They had set up camp for the night, and strangely, Temari volunteered to gather up some extra firewood. But, as usual, she couldn't go without first saying something completely unsettling.

"You two aren't going to do anything gross like make out while I'm gone, are you?" she asked, throwing a suspicious glare at Sakura.

Sakura couldn't help the blush that rose in her cheeks, and was somewhat relieved to see that Naruto was in a similar state.

"Of c-course n-not, neechan," he muttered haltingly, unable to look at either of them.

Temari grunted and vanished quickly into the woods, probably meaning to get back in a hurry.

"You sure agreed with her pretty fast, Naruto," Sakura observed lightly. "If I'd known you weren't interested in kissing me, it would've saved us a lot of trouble from the start."

His eyes were round with worry as he hurried over to her side. "It's not like that, Sakura-chan, I swear! I mean... I'd still want to kiss you! It's just... well... Temari's really picky about who I-"

"If I really wanted to kiss you," Sakura interrupted with a scowl, "I wouldn't care who was around. I'd just do it. If the same doesn't apply to you, maybe we shouldn't even be thinking about kissing."

"Don't say that!" Naruto pleaded miserably as he grabbed her hand, sounding very near tears. "Sakura-chan, please..."

"Why do Temari's feelings matter so much more to you than mine do?" she demanded.

"That's not it at all!" he protested. "I'm trying to make you understand!"

"So do it already," Sakura challenged, her expression firm.

Naruto sighed and relaxed only slightly as he leaned back, releasing her hand. "Sakura-chan... when you go home at night, who's there waiting for you?"

"My parents," she replied automatically. "What's your point?"

His blue eyes took on a strange, intensely lonely look. "When I go home... do you know who's waiting on me?"

Sakura blinked a few times. "Temari?" she guessed.

"And before her?"

She sat there for several seconds, but soon realized why she was having so much trouble thinking of an answer. "Oh, Naruto..." she whispered softly, starting to feel horrible.

"So many people take having someone, anyone in their lives all the time for granted," he said quietly. "But for the first time in my life, I have someone to go home to. You have no idea how great that feels, Sakura-chan, after being alone for so long. It's like... every day is my birthday, only this time, there's someone other than me there to celebrate it... and they actually want to."

"I... I didn't know," Sakura murmured. "I mean, I did, but I didn't know how bad... Naruto, why didn't you ever say anything? If all you needed was to be with someone-"

"Because I don't want pity. And don't try to deny it, I could hear it in your voice." He ran a hand listlessly through his hair. "With Temari, I know it's not pity. It never has been. She understands me. I never have to explain things like this to her. She just... knows."

She swallowed noisily. "That's why you... love her."

Naruto didn't confirm or deny that statement, but he wasn't exactly looking at Sakura when he spoke again. "Whenever I can't sleep, I don't have to do anything. She'll just come into my room, and claim she was up, anyway, even if she's still half-asleep. And then we'll just sit right next to each other, until we both nod off. Has anyone ever done that for you, Sakura-chan? Not just a couple of times, but whenever you needed it?"

Sakura couldn't answer him. Certainly, she could remember times when her mother had stayed up with her until she fell asleep. But she could also remember times when her mother had been too tired, or too busy, or just not there at all. That Naruto didn't recall such instances with Temari obviously meant an entirely different level of devotion.

"No one understood me before. And now that I have Temari in my life, no one understands that, either. They all try to twist it, to make it seem wrong." Naruto finally looked at her again, and the desperation in his eyes seemed to hold her in place. "You wouldn't make me choose between you and her, would you, Sakura-chan? I couldn't do that. I need Temari... but I need you, too."

"Are you sure? Sounds like she takes pretty good care of you as it is," Sakura noted with a hint of jealousy in her tone.

Naruto nodded. "She does. But there are some things I can't ask her to do for me. Things I'd only feel right talking to you about."

"Like kissing?" Sakura asked, trying her best to make it sound as if she thought it a very dull activity. The way Naruto's entire face turned red was reward enough for her. The blush faded quicker than she'd expected, though, and she soon found out why.

"Sakura-chan," he said softly, with the hesitant look of someone about to say something very upsetting, "you don't really want to kiss me, do you?"

She blinked at that, more surprised than offended. "What makes you say that?"

"When you think about your life, years from now... do you really see yourself with me? As more than teammates or friends? If you do, I'd be glad to have you kiss me. But if you don't..."

This was the last thing Sakura had expected from Naruto. Sure, he had always been big on dreams, his own and those of his teammates, but Sakura had never really shared hers with him for whatever reason. Ironically enough, they were both familiar with Sasuke's dreams, and he had been the least willing to share them. This only drove home the point that, again, it was Sakura's fault for not communicating better with Naruto when she'd had the chance. If she'd spent just a few extra minutes a day simply talking to him, even about something as mundane as the weather, he might not feel partially like a stranger right now.

Without considering how he might react, Sakura leaned forward and placed a swift, soft kiss directly on the whisker marks of Naruto's left cheek. She noticed that he was staring at her as she pulled back, and looked more cautious than anything else.

"You're right about me, Naruto," she admitted. "I don't really see us together that way. I'm not in love with you." Sakura paused and took a deep breath. "But now that I really think about it, I wasn't in love with Sasuke, either. I was just in love with the idea of being in love with him. And even if I had been in love with him from the start, he's given me more than enough reason to stop feeling that way. But at least I know that even if you leave me, you'll come back."

"What are you saying, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked quietly.

She bit her lip, but forced the next part of her little speech out. "I don't want you getting killed over him, Naruto. So... I'm releasing you from your promise. You don't have to bring him back, if you think it would be a waste. I'm not even sure it would be all that great to have him back. He didn't even want or need to be here, not really. I just... I couldn't take it if I lost you because we were too blind to realize that Sasuke either couldn't or wouldn't allow us to save him. I guess what I'm really saying is... I'd rather devote my life to people who care enough to acknowledge and return my feelings."

Naruto didn't say anything, and in the end, he didn't need to. He merely moved forward and drew Sakura into his arms, holding her tightly as tears suddenly began to roll down her face. She wasn't sure if this was because she had just officially given up on Sasuke, or because she feared Naruto would hate her for doing so.

"I understand, Sakura-chan," he whispered in her ear. "I won't go after Sasuke blindly. But... if he reaches out, wanting to be saved... I have to go. You can accept that, can't you?"

"Yes," she replied. "Because even doing that much would speak volumes for him." From the way Naruto squeezed her waist a little more, he agreed. "Don't let his dream get in the way of yours, Naruto. I don't really think the Sasuke we knew would want that. I bet he wouldn't have minded living here so much, with you as Hokage, if he could raise a family and know that his brother couldn't hurt him anymore."

Sakura desperately wanted to believe that, anyway. Sasuke had never said anything about wanting to be Hokage himself, and there had been times when he almost seemed to appreciate that Naruto was near, if not on his level of skill. Maybe, just maybe, once Itachi was out of the way, Sasuke would come back on his own. It was unlikely, but not impossible. If anyone could, it would be him.

Temari chose that moment to return, scowling as Sakura and Naruto quickly leaped apart. "I guess I should just be thankful you weren't necking," she sighed with a disgusted shake of her head.

0000000

Much to Sakura's surprise, Temari did nothing to indicate that she had any real problem with Sakura's renewed closeness with Naruto. At least, she was no ruder than she had been, and even that seemed to have lessened slightly. It was probably the best Sakura could hope for, given the circumstances. And if just talking to Naruto had been that helpful, she was pretty sure that all that was left was to get Temari alone so they could talk, too.

Still, they were on a B-ranked mission, and would be reminded of that all too soon.

* * *

Even though she knew he was very much dead, Sakura still retained what she thought of as a healthy fear of Momochi Zabuza. That he was the Demon of the Mist, a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and creator of the Silent Homicide Jutsu were all reason enough to fear him. But it was the Zabuza that Sakura had faced that fateful day on the road to the Wave Country that remained in her mind.

He had battled, in her eyes, like a force of nature, and had served as the first real test her team had ever faced. To put it bluntly, they had failed. In their first encounter, Zabuza had escaped with the help of his comrade Haku, and in the next, it had taken the combined efforts of her team and a group of ruthless gangsters to bring Zabuza and Haku down. Even then, Kakashi had been the one that inadvertently killed Haku. And though they'd marked that day, somewhat reluctantly, as a victory, Sakura had never forgotten that ultimately, her team was unable to handle the duo alone.

It didn't matter that Zabuza and Haku had been two exceptionally powerful and skilled shinobi, that they had years of experience working as a unit, or that the mission should only have been a C-ranked one. Sakura hadn't laid a finger on either opponent, Sasuke had been put in a near-death state for most of the final fight, and although Naruto had fought bravely, he'd been unable to deliver a blow that might've killed Haku, who he'd felt a certain kinship with. It was something Sakura feared to this day: identifying with an enemy so completely that you were unable to move at all.

She had told herself that this would never happen to her. Konoha was her home, and as a kunoichi of the Leaf, she would give her life before even considering betraying her village or origin. She was convinced even now that Naruto had only felt something for Haku because they were both outcasts, and knew the pain of being abandoned.

There was nothing that would ever make Sakura turn away from what she had been raised to believe.

Nothing... except Naruto.

* * *

When the mist began to roll in on the morning of the ninth day, Temari was the first to react. Instead of trying to dispel the mist with her fan, she signaled for Sakura and Naruto to stay close to her, falling into a crouch and waiting for the first attack.

Only a few seconds had passed before Sakura heard the familiar sound of kunai flying through the air. And the sound was much too close to her for comfort, so she began to roll out of the way.

Before she could, an orange blur shot past her, and the kunai was gone. Sakura blinked as she caught sight of two more orange blurs before she figured out that Naruto had brought out his Shadow Clones to defend her. It was a touching but annoying gesture; she could've just as easily deflected the kunai on her own. There was no time to lecture him on it now, though, so Sakura pushed it to the back of her mind as she got her first glimpse of their opponents in the mist.

They were Mist-nin, and if average age was any indicator, all three were chuunin. Sakura spotted shuriken holsters, but no other obvious weapons on them. That didn't mean much, but it was a start: Temari had her fan, and if Sakura knew Naruto like she thought she did, he'd still have the same giant shuriken he'd used against Zabuza stashed in his pack.

Temari's strategy of staying together had worked well enough so far, but suddenly, Sakura was considering other options. Maybe Temari would start respecting her more if she showed more initiative. If Temari saw that Sakura could handle herself in a fight, maybe they could all be friends by the end of the day. It didn't sound half as crazy in Sakura's head as it actually was, so with a snarl of rage, she charged forward, startling everyone present.

The Mist-nin she was headed for recovered first, and he decided to rush her as well. They met head-on, with Sakura purposely landing a glancing punch to the elbow that couldn't possibly have hurt, and receiving a jarring straight arm jab to the left shoulder that sent pain shooting down her arm. She let out a dramatic wail of agony and started to fall, and that was when she saw it.

The sneer on the Mist chuunin's face. The one that said, "Stupid little girl, what made you think you could take me on?"

The one Sakura had been looking for all along.

With a sunny smile and a so far unseen burst of speed, Sakura delivered an uppercut that would, at the very least, leave the Mist-nin's jaw broken. She followed up with a roundhouse kick to the ribs, and couldn't help smirking when she saw that her opponent was unconscious well before he hit the ground.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one that had had an easy time disarming her Mist-nin. Temari's was out as well, his clothing all but shredded to pieces, and sporting a nasty-looking head wound to boot.

Naruto, rather predictably, had fallen into a contest of one-upmanship with his Mist-nin, as they kept sending clones to attack each other. More than likely, Naruto's opponent would run out of chakra first, and even if that wasn't the case, it would still be three versus one, so there was no need to step in just yet.

Sakura almost sighed aloud, and was not at all surprised when Temari looked over, smirked, and rolled her eyes, as if to say, "Boys will be boys."

The first arrow caught Sakura just above the elbow, the impact spinning her halfway around as she sank to the ground, grimacing in pain.

Temari managed to block the second arrow with her fan, but the third knocked her to the ground as well.

Sakura slowly looked up to see an older Mist-nin staring at her from his perch on a high tree branch, already prepared to bury the next arrow between her eyes. There was no emotion in his expression as he released the arrow.

From that point on, the world became a spinning, orange blur, and when Sakura regained her senses, she was aware of a terrifying roar in her ears, and an iron grip on her arm. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and got the shock of her life.

Naruto was crouched next to her, the last arrow clutched in his free hand. But there was very obviously something wrong with him. Those odd little whisker marks, which Sakura had always assumed were tattoos or birthmarks, had elongated and thickened until they seemed more like claw marks. Naruto's entire stance put her more in mind of Inuzuka Kiba than himself, and his face seemed longer, too. But the most startling change was his eyes, which were a burning red. Sakura could even feel the start of claws digging into her arm, as he had yet to let go of her.

The final Mist-nin was just as shocked, and made the mistake of lowering his bow to get a better look at his opponent.

Naruto's right hand blurred upwards, and within seconds, the Mist-nin hit the ground in what sounded very much like three different pieces. Sakura could only guess, because she was unable to take her eyes off of her teammate... if it still was him, anyway.

Then Naruto turned his head and looked directly at her.

Perhaps she was too frightened to get a good look, but Sakura could see no trace of the Naruto she knew in that face. All she knew was that this... creature had just killed someone, and it could very likely do it again. The scream was in Sakura's throat before she realized what was happening, but it never made it past her lips.

There was a sickening crack, and Naruto dropped to the ground like a stone, revealing a panting Temari behind him, wielding her fan like a club.

The two kunoichi stared at each other in silence for an endless moment.

Finally, Temari said the last thing that Sakura had been expecting.

"What were you thinking? Why didn't you do something?"

Sakura was so surprised at the accusation in Temari's tone that it took her a few seconds to form a response. "I didn't know he was there until after he shot me, and then-"

"Not him," Temari interrupted, sounding exasperated. "I meant-" She trailed off suddenly, her green eyes widening in realization. "You didn't know?"

"Know what?" Sakura demanded.

"Never mind," Temari said quietly, reaching down to haul Naruto up. "Let's just get out of here, in case there are more of them."

That much Sakura could agree with, so she didn't protest, especially when she saw that the "arrows" had just been water, probably held together with chakra and fired at high speed. Frowning at the small bruise forming on her arm, she followed Temari away from the sight of the battle... but at a distance.

* * *

Sakura stared across the campfire at Temari, who was picking at a light bruise on her shoulder. The water arrows hadn't caused any serious damage, but Sakura suspected the first hit was only meant to incapacitate an opponent, while the next... Well, it was best not to think about that now.

She glanced down at Naruto, who had been out cold for nearly four hours now. Even though Sakura thought she understood why Temari had hit him, she wished the Sand jounin hadn't hit him so hard. The irony of Sakura wishing anyone hadn't hit Naruto brought a weary smile to her face.

"What?" Temari asked abruptly, noticing the look on Sakura's face.

"Nothing," Sakura replied at once. "I was just remembering when we were Academy students."

Something flickered in Temari's face, but it was gone too quickly to identify. "Why don't you like him?"

Sakura blinked slowly and stared at her. "What are you talking about? Of course I like him!"

"I meant why didn't you ever date him?" Temari snapped. "And if you say one word about Uchiha, you'll be laid out right beside Naruto."

She didn't question for a moment that the Sand-nin would do it, too. "That's not how I feel about Naruto. At first, I didn't like him at all. Now I can't imagine my life without him in it. I don't feel the way he does, and he knows that, but it never stops him."

"So tell him to find someone else," Temari insisted. "Tell him it would make you happy, to see him with someone that loves him the way he deserves to be loved."

"That would make me happy," Sakura admitted. "But you know how Naruto is. He never lets go."

"He doesn't have to let go, and neither do you," Temari replied. "You just both have to move on. No one's saying you can't still be friends."

"Then why did you try so hard to keep us apart?"

Temari's gaze shifted to the fire, and Sakura could see the flames dancing in her eyes.

"Suppose you had a bloodline limit, Sakura. Not a cool one like the Sharingan, but one that brought you nothing but pain and fear, and did the same to those around you. And suppose that people began to associate you exclusively with that ability, until they began to see it more than they saw you. Suppose you grew up only knowing the hatred they felt for it, hatred that they directed at you, since you were the carrier. Finally, suppose that you couldn't risk telling anyone, because even your closest friends might turn on you in a heartbeat."

"You... you're talking about Naruto, aren't you?" Sakura whispered.

"I kept you away because I couldn't trust you. Because I didn't think he could trust you. But you're his teammate, and I think it's time to either let you in on it, or go your separate ways. So you need to decide, Sakura. Can you do the things I do for him?" Her dark green eyes narrowed. "Could you have done what I did today? Could you protect him, even from himself? I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't... but if you can't, you need to say so now."

"He didn't trust me enough to tell me," Sakura murmured.

"I only know because Gaara found out firsthand. Naruto never told anyone. Everyone that knows either figured it out, had someone tell them, or knew before he did."

"But I'm his friend," Sakura whispered softly. "Why couldn't he have just told me?"

"I'd guess you were too important to him to risk losing. He couldn't stand to have you look at him the way everyone else did. Not again, anyway."

Sakura blinked away the gathering moisture in her eyes. She could still recall a time when she was convinced that she hated everything about Naruto. But she hadn't really known him then, and certainly hadn't been his friend. Would she have turned away from him, if she'd known his secret after they'd bonded? She couldn't say for sure, didn't even know if what she'd seen today was the extent of his ability. All she knew was that if she did decide to turn her back on him, she'd be alone.

She found herself wondering what Sasuke would do, if he found out that she'd left Naruto. Would he laugh at her? Would he be angry? Would he even care at all?

"Don't say yes out of guilt or pity," Temari said, interrupting Sakura's thoughts. "He doesn't need them, and I can take care of him just fine on my own." And from the intensely proud and protective look in her eyes, Sakura didn't dare doubt her.

Sakura studied Naruto's face as he slept peacefully. He had really scared her today... but he'd probably saved her life, too. Naruto would always do that, without question or hesitation, because he was never afraid to defend something that mattered to him. And it wasn't as if she could just cut Naruto out of her life. Knowing him, nothing short of an entire ANBU squad or Tsunade herself could keep him away.

Fortunately, Sakura knew they wouldn't have to.

* * *

When Naruto woke up the next morning, Sakura greeted him with a hug and a kiss for each cheek. He could only grin stupidly as Temari rolled her eyes and made loud gagging noises.

"You two must be okay if you're healthy enough to make me sick," Temari sighed, shaking her head in disgust.

Naruto shook his head slightly to clear it, then looked at Sakura in concern. "How's your arm, Sakura-chan?"

"Just a scratch," she replied with a smile. "Thanks for worrying about me, Naruto. Now I want you to let me worry about you for a while. It's not right that you only have one person in your life who you can always count on."

His eyes widened. "Sakura-chan, I can't ask you to-"

Temari reached over and smacked the back of his head none too gently. "You're not asking, she's offering."

Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his head, shooting a glare at Temari.

"Please let me do this for you, Naruto," Sakura pleaded, grasping his hand. "I don't ever want you to feel like there's nothing in Konoha for you... that you could just leave it behind without a second thought."

"Oh, I could never feel that way, Sakura-chan," he answered with a big grin. "There's something very close to my heart in Konoha, and I'll always come back to it."

"Naruto," Sakura whispered happily, her eyes moistening up. "You really mean that?"

"Sure I do! I'll always come back to Ichiraku Ramen!"

Sakura was vaguely aware of Temari snorting and snickering behind them, but she could hardly hear it over Naruto's cries of pain as she battered him with her fists.

**The End.**

* * *

Endnotes:

This would take place a couple of years after the official time skip of two and a half years, the only big difference being that Naruto managed to achieve chuunin level after his return to Konoha (I figure if everyone else managed it within three years, it should take Naruto even less time at that point).

I can't in good conscience qualify what Sakura feels for Sasuke "love." Loving someone implies that you actually know them well enough to be in love with them, and as we see early on, there are very few people that know anything substantial about Sasuke, and none of them are his age. At best I would call her feelings a crush, because those are usually based on little more than physical attraction (they'd almost have to be in Sasuke's case; there's no way anyone who acted like Sasuke without looking like him would have that many admirers). I would even venture to say that Hinata is more in love with Naruto from the start than Sakura is with Sasuke, if only because Hinata appreciates Naruto's attitude and goals, not just his looks. Meanwhile, for all Sakura's open affection for Sasuke and time spent ogling him, Naruto understands him better than she does, if only because their lives are so similar.

Sakura's view of the battle(s) with Zabuza and Haku is slightly skewed, considering she didn't play a big part in them. She also doesn't completely understand Naruto's motivation during the fight. Though I'm also assuming she didn't have the patience to let Naruto explain it to her, either.

My position on Sasuke is fairly simple. He left for a reason, and he won't rest until Itachi is dead. With that in mind, people should stop nearly killing themselves trying to get him back. He doesn't need to be saved, he needs to be left alone. He might even have some devious master plan that could rid the world of both Orochimaru and Itachi (even if it might involve killing all three of them). I mean, it's Sasuke! He's stubborn, strong, and arguably evil, but I don't think he's stupid or crazy. And since facing off with any one Akatsuki member (not to mention the new and improved Sasuke) still requires a team effort, the heroes are just wasting time and energy. A LOT of energy in Naruto's case, even if he does have it to spare.

Sasuke actually does state, both in the anime and the manga, that Naruto should not let pursuing him get in the way of his (Naruto's) dreams. And the fact that he does so before and after his defection tells me that he really means it. Of course, he might have just said it to get Naruto and Sakura off of his back, which just proves my point.

* * *

**Omake!**

Kakashi was pleased (but also a little disappointed) that Naruto, Temari, and Sakura had made it back safely. But he was a man of his word, so he didn't complain once when Naruto demanded that he come through on his end of the wager. Though, this partially out of sympathy, because if the numerous lumps on Naruto's head were any indicator, he'd had a run-in with a particularly fierce enemy. Most of his bumps and bruises had healed by the time they reached the ramen stand, but Naruto was still walking pretty gingerly.

"So, what kind of trouble did you run into out there?" Kakashi asked casually.

Naruto directed a mournful glance over at Sakura and Temari, who, surprisingly, were now chatting like old girlfriends. "Woman trouble."

"Ah. I see."

"Kakashi-sensei... is it okay to let a girl hit you whenever she wants?"

"Hmm. That's a tough one, Naruto," Kakashi replied. "On one hand, there's something to be said for being a gentleman."

"And on the other hand?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's been my experience that female assassins take out the gentlemen first. They're easy targets, you know. Always opening doors and things like that. They tend to stick out."

"So... I shouldn't let a girl hit me?" the orange-garbed chuunin guessed.

"Only if you're sure she's going to try and kill you later. Otherwise, you can afford to take a lump or two."

"Or forty-seven. Right?"

Blinking, Kakashi stared at the hopeful look on his student's face. "Naruto... there's something to be said for being man enough to let a woman hit you."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." The older man paused, smirking a bit under his mask. "There's also something to be said for being a total wimp."

"HEY!"

"I'm assuming we're speaking in the hypothetical sense," Kakashi added. "I mean, you wouldn't really just stand there and let anyone hit you that many times?"

Naruto's face turned bright red. "Um, no," he muttered, looking away.

"There's one thing I'm curious about. For you to have still had those bruises when you came in, they must have been pretty fresh."

"Uh... well... yeah?"

Kakashi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "So unless you got attacked directly outside of the gates..."

"It was Sakura-chan, okay?" Naruto sighed miserably.

"Then she really did hit you forty-seven times?"

"Yeah. Only... those faded a few minutes afterwards, so..."

"Do you mean to tell me," Kakashi said slowly, "that you actually let her renew the bruises each time they faded? All the way here?"

Naruto didn't say anything.

"Well. You'll be glad to know that you will never hear me call you a wimp, Naruto."

"Really, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked, sounding relieved.

"Really." Kakashi turned his head away from his student, doing his best not to be obvious about snickering. "I think it'll be so obvious, I won't need to point it out."

"HEY!"


	3. Downtime with Team Temari

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, I'm not getting paid.

Notes: Since this series is more devoted towards Temari fitting in with Naruto's friends, I figure a chapter featuring Tenten is pretty much mandatory. This is set some time after the second chapter of "Rise of the Rokudaime."

**Downtime with Team Temari**

**Chapter 3 of Building Clan Uzumaki**

**A Naruto Ficlet by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

Tenten had mixed feelings about the scroll in her hand, and there was a good chance that each one of them appeared on her face as she made her way to the home of Uzumaki Naruto.

Everyone in Konoha knew where Naruto lived; growing up as the village outcast had made his home something of an infamous landmark. Tenten didn't like to think of him that way, though. Naruto had proven himself to be a very capable ninja in her eyes, and he'd never given her a reason to see him as anything other than a comrade. The few times they had ended up working together, he'd treated her like one of the guys... which was actually how Tenten preferred to be treated when it came to missions. Most guys felt weird about working with kunoichi they weren't familiar with, but Naruto either didn't notice she was female, or simply didn't let that fact get in the way.

Tenten had pretty much always gotten along with Sakura. Admittedly, the first few days hadn't been great, but that's how it was when you met people during the chuunin exams. Since then, though, they'd had no major problems, and while they weren't as close as Sakura and Ino were, it wasn't unusual for them to run into each other on the street and spend several hours catching up.

The only real reason Tenten was reluctant to deliver the scoll containing Team 7's next mission was because of their newest member. She hadn't thought anyone could replace Uchiha Sasuke, and no one had. But while Kakashi was stuck taking on ungodly amounts of paperwork, more and more she'd heard people referring to them as "Team Temari." It didn't matter that this was technically correct, since if Temari was replacing anyone, it'd be Kakashi, not Sasuke. Despite her age, she was a jounin, and therefore more than qualified to lead her own team.

Having fought Temari exactly once, it wasn't the Sand-nin's ability that Tenten had a problem with. No, it was more the idea of Temari taking over a team that consisted of Tenten's friends, which meant their lives were now almost exclusively in Temari's hands. And all things considered, Tenten thought she had good reason to be worried. As far as she knew, Temari had no experience leading a team.

On the other hand, so far she'd only heard good things about Team Temari. And nobody had contested Temari's appointment as team leader, not even Kakashi himself, which either meant he didn't have a problem with it, or it had been his idea.

Tenten hadn't actually spoken to Naruto or Sakura in some time, but according to Lee, they were both getting stronger, so apparently Temari hadn't done anything that was hurting their skills. Still, Tenten was somewhat glad she was getting a chance to drop in on her two friends and see how they were for herself. It wasn't that she didn't trust Lee, but a single smile from Sakura had been known to leave him thinking the world was covered in rainbows for hours afterwards.

It was fairly early in the morning when Tenten reached her destination, so she figured unless Temari had Naruto and Sakura training at the crack of dawn, someone was likely to be home, even if they were still asleep. It took a few minutes of knocking, but sure enough, someone finally did answer the door.

"Hhey, Tenten," a very sleepy Sakura yawned, leaning against the doorframe. She halfheartedly ran a hand through her messy pink hair in an attempt to smooth it out, then gave up and stared blearily at her visitor. "Lee's not with you, is he? He'd probably turn to stone if he saw me like this."

"Um, no, it's just me," Tenten assured her. "I was hoping we could talk, but maybe I should just come back another time..."

"Now's good," Sakura said, yawning again as she stepped aside to let Tenten in. "Naruto will probably be knocked out until noon, and Temari might wake up an hour before he does. And there's no way they'll wake up before then if they don't smell food."

That struck Tenten as odd, especially when she heard a very unladylike snore float up from the couch in the living room. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you three doing last night?"

"Ramen tourney," Sakura answered, shutting the door and heading into the kitchen.

"Do I even want to know?" Tenten asked, following her.

"We pick one kind of ramen, and whoever eats the most and keeps it down wins. You'd think we'd learn; Naruto hasn't lost yet. I can only ever eat half of what he does, and Temari can keep up with him, but she just can't keep it all down..."

"Ugh."

"That's what she said after we were done." Sakura practically collapsed into a chair and stared up at the ceiling. "So what'd you want to talk about?"

Normally, Tenten might have worked her way up to what she really wanted to talk about, but she didn't want to risk Temari overhearing it, either. "You guys like following Temari's lead?"

Sakura blinked and sat up, staring at Tenten curiously. "You make it sound like we do whatever she says."

"You don't?"

"Of course not. We didn't even do that with Kakashi-sensei. Anyway, it's different with Temari. I mean, we listen to her, and sometimes she tells us what to do, but she has more experience. We work with her, not under her. You really think we'd be making ourselves sick on ramen if all the ideas around here came from her?"

Tenten frowned thoughtfully. "So... she's not the leader?"

"Well, yeah," Sakura admitted. "In a fight, we either follow her lead or handle it however we think is best. We both knew what to expect from Naruto starting out, and now we know what to expect from each other. It just works, now. I can't really explain it any better."

"Then whose idea was it for her to replace your sensei?" Tenten asked.

"Oh, that. We all kind of sprang it on her, and believe me, that's the only time we've ever managed to surprise her. She didn't want to do it at first, but Kakashi-sensei started telling her these old war stories about how two-man teams got slaughtered. It was pretty low, even for him, but she accepted in the end. I don't think any of us regrets that, either."

"Things have been going well, then?"

"They weren't exactly awful before, but they're way better now," Sakura answered. "She just fits with us, you know?"

"Like Sasuke did?" Tenten said without thinking.

Sakura actually smiled. "No, not like Sasuke, because he never really fit at all, or he didn't want to. Oh, sure, he'd have his moments where he and Naruto might click, but they never lasted long, and at the end of the day, he still mostly treated us like dirt. Naruto got used to it, because everyone treated him that way for a long time. Me, though... despite how smart I knew I was, Sasuke always made me feel like an idiot. And if he'd been doing it unintentionally, my feelings today might be different. He hated Naruto, but even that required some acknowledgement. I never even got that, unless I was in his way at the time."

"He was really that bad?"

"Maybe I'm making it sound worse," Sakura sighed, shrugging a little. "But for a while, I thought that's what a team was: not even really liking each other, just working together because you had to. But then Sasuke left, and Naruto just sort of... stepped up, I guess. And when Temari came back, she treated me like dirt, and even that was better than Sasuke, because at least she cared what happened to Naruto. So when I finally realized why she was the way she was, and what being on a team meant to her, we didn't have any problems. It's not at all like it was with Sasuke. Sometimes, I think it's better than it ever could have been with him. We never would have really mattered to him until he did what he had to do. And even then, I can't be sure he would've cared for us all that much."

"I think I'm still missing something here," Tenten murmured. "What is it about Temari that made you accept her?"

Sakura closed her eyes and smiled. "She's Naruto's family. Which is pretty weird, considering she's only one person, but she really is. On the plus side, it also means there's plenty of room to crash here whenever I'm too tired to walk home."

Tenten stared at her uncertainly. "You sleep here? I mean, often?"

"Mmm... two, three times a week, yeah. Temari may have changed, but her views on fighting and training haven't. Sometimes just the thought of dragging myself home after a full day with her makes me want to cry. But you'd be surprised how much constantly getting whacked with a giant fan toughens you up."

It took great force of willpower for Tenten not to have a chuunin exam flashback, and in the midst of that, she noticed that Temari had entered the kitchen at some point in the conversation, and was currently drinking straight from a milk carton.

Sakura noticed that Tenten wasn't looking at her anymore, and nearly jumped when she saw the Sand jounin moving past her. "Temari! How long have you been there? Did we wake you?"

"Wasn't sleeping," Temari replied, tossing the now empty carton in the trash.

"But... you were snoring..." Sakura pointed out hesitantly.

Sighing, Temari flicked Sakura in the center of her forehead, in a way that was both chastising and affectionate all at once. "In all the time you've known me, have I ever snored before today?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "You were listening the whole time!"

"We had a visitor; what did you think I was doing? I was also waiting to see if you'd badmouth me behind my back, but you didn't say anything worth punishing, I guess. Although I'm definitely better than Sasuke. Bet he wouldn't go on a double date with you."

Turning bright red, Sakura shouted, "That wasn't a date! We all just happened to meet up!"

"Except that I brought you, and Shikamaru brought Lee, you mean." Temari grinned, as if she'd just had a great idea. "Maybe next time, we can even get Neji and Tenten in on it."

"Um, maybe no one's told you this," Tenten said slowly, "but you're not exactly one of Neji's favorite people..."

Temari snorted loudly. "You say that like he HAS favorite people."

"Point taken. But, really, I don't think it would be a good idea. I mean, you and I would be the only ones talking. Shikamaru would probably get bored."

"He wouldn't if we were comparing size," Temari added with a smirk.

Tenten opened her mouth, and quickly snapped it shut, her cheeks flaming.

Sakura groaned. "Temari, it's too early to be freaking us out like that."

"Oh, both of you need to grow up, and then get laid. And if you're not picky, you could probably catch Naruto in the shower."

"Hey, I have to EAT in here!" Sakura cried in disgust.

"We're eating?" Naruto asked excitedly as he suddenly bounded into the kitchen. His face fell upon noticing the distinct lack of food. "Aww... that was a dirty trick, Sakura-chan!"

Scowling, Sakura threw a balled-up napkin at his head.

Naruto largely ignored it, sharing a nod with Tenten before turning to Temari with open arms. "Morning, neechan!" he sang, moving towards her.

Temari's response was to whip out her fan and smack him in the face with it.

Sakura winced sympathetically as Naruto fell to the floor with a large, red fan-print on his face.

"What'd I do?" Naruto whimpered, obviously confused.

Temari bent down and grabbed him by the ear. "Naruto, I'm only going to say this one more time. If you have any intention of kissing me, then get rid of your damn morning breath FIRST."

"I think you just knocked it out of me..." he said weakly.

"If only it were that easy." Temari's face softened a bit as she leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now, go wash up properly, and maybe there actually will be some breakfast when you get back."

"You're only going to get me dirty again with your training, anyway," Naruto pointed out, but he got up and left the room.

"There's no excuse for being dirty BEFORE that!" she shouted after him.

Sakura sighed. "Well, since no one else on the street could possibly be asleep after that, I guess I'll get started on breakfast. You staying, Tenten?"

"No, I need to run a few more errands for Anko-sama," Tenten replied. "I really just came by to drop off your next mission."

"I always thought scrolls were best read outside," Temari said abruptly.

Tenten stared at her blankly. "Okay..."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "She wants to discuss the mission outside where I can't hear you, apparently."

"Oh." Though Tenten didn't really feel comfortable with that, Temari was the team leader, so she followed the Sand jounin out of the front door.

"I assume you already know the details of this mission?" Temari asked.

"Actually, no," Tenten answered, wondering if she should've taken a peek beforehand. "Anko-sama said it was pretty straightforward, so I didn't bother asking about it." She handed over the scroll, but Temari made no move to open it.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're really transparent?"

"What?" Tenten asked sharply.

"I can tell you're worried about Naruto and Sakura. I assume it's because you don't think I know anything about leading a team. Stop me if I'm wrong."

Tenten sighed. "You're not wrong. But it's really none of my business."

"There's no rule against caring about what happens to your friends. But you need to realize that Naruto and Sakura weren't easy to kill before I got my hands on them, and they definitely aren't now, either. Besides, I always look after my own. I've been doing it since before I was a genin, and I've gotten pretty good at it. Kakashi trusts me to keep them in one piece, and so do they. The fact that they still do when they're short a man should indicate I know a thing or two about teamwork."

"I didn't mean to insult you."

Temari laughed. "Oh, you'd know if you'd insulted me," she said, turning and going back inside.

Tenten frowned a little as she stood there for a few moments. Naruto and Sakura didn't seem like they were in any real danger, nor were they unhappy with Temari being in charge. And anyone that could make Neji sweat the way Temari did probably wasn't easy to kill, either. Maybe they'd all be just fine.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shrieked, her voice easily audible from the street. "That's MY toothbrush!"

Tenten smiled. "Then again, maybe not..."

**End of Chapter 3.**

00000000

Endnotes:

I like to think Tenten is professional enough not to hold a grudge forever. Mind you, she's still not completely comfortable around Temari, but she's doing better than Neji in that department, obviously.

Just to be clear, Sakura doesn't live with Naruto and Temari. At least, not all of the time.

Every time I think I'm done with this, I come back and add another chapter. That's why it keeps getting longer even though it's marked as done. Even now, I've got a potential next chapter collecting dust. So if I get it cleaned up, that'll be next. If not, I'll find another way to include anything important somewhere else.


	4. Baby Blues

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, I'm not getting paid, this is for free entertainment purposes only.

Notes: Back for another chapter. This takes place after Hinata returns to Konoha (so between Parts 7 and 8 of WDN). I came up with this mostly to explain something Temari will be doing in Chapter 8 of HSA, and I felt it might need some back story. And before you ask, this has plenty to do with Naruto's soon-to-be clan. Family's family in his eyes, even if they're in-laws.

Summary: Temari finds herself spending time with a very pregnant Tenten. The menfolk should probably keep their distance...

**Building Clan Uzumaki**

**Chapter 4: Baby Blues**

**A Naruto Ficlet by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

Tenten was not one to let her personal feelings get in the way of her duties. It was unprofessional, and more importantly, she wasn't about to fit the widely accepted stereotype of kunoichi being overly emotional. Although, considering her current state, being overly emotional was kind of expected.

But Tenten planned on being resilient even on her deathbed, so she certainly wasn't about to start picking up any bad habits now. Although, again, she would've been well within her rights to do so.

She wouldn't give them the satisfaction. No one was going to say that Tenten was typical if she had any choice in the matter. She wouldn't let them say it of the old Tenten, and she certainly wasn't going to let them say it about Hyuuga Tenten.

That name still brought a silly smile to her lips, even though she'd been Neji's wife for several months now. It really was a bad habit, as far as Neji was concerned, though he could never actually bring himself to say so aloud. Hyuuga women weren't known for smiling, and neither were Hyuuga men, for that matter. But in the privacy of their bedroom, where Tenten often awoke to find her husband tenderly stroking what she stubbornly thought of as an only slightly rounded belly, they would both smile, and that was enough for her.

They had already decided on names. Irihi for a girl, and though she hadn't told Neji yet, Tenten was willing to go with Hizashi for a boy. She felt like Neji's time with his father had been cut short, and hoped naming the baby for him might ease some of the pain in her husband's heart.

People had started treating her differently the moment she began to show. Everyone was always wanting to do things for her and with her, whether Tenten needed them to or not. Lee was probably the worst, going so far as to shadow her so he could carry anything she happened to pick up. She wasn't sure if he was doing it on his own, or if Neji had put him up to it, but one day soon she was going to lose her temper and punch him in the mouth. Hinata was nearly as bad, though she made up for it by spoiling Tenten with whatever food she wanted. Sakura and Ino had become strangely generous, and between them had already filled up an entire room with various baby products. Oddly enough, Naruto hadn't gone out of his way at all. He'd once offered to carry her, in his arms, to and from the market, but the killing intent rolling off of Neji had been so overwhelming that Tenten had politely refused.

In the end, she came to prefer people like Konohamaru and Kouji, who didn't make a big deal of it, but were suddenly interested in walking with her all the same. Tenten wasn't so naive as to believe Hanabi hadn't put them up to it, but she appreciated the gesture. Even if Hanabi would never admit to being interested, Tenten made a point of speaking to her at least twice a week, just so she could see for herself that the future Hyuuga heir was being well cared for. She had even gotten Hanabi to feel the baby kick once, and though Hanabi refused to do so again, Tenten liked to think that they'd made a connection that day.

* * *

Temari gazed at the freshly-cleared land before her carefully, and decided she liked what she saw.

"Good work, Kamatari," she said to the oversized white weasel next to her. "But I might need you to clear out some more, once Hinata gets a chance to look at it."

All things considered, it wasn't a very large space, since it was supposed to one day house the entire Uzumaki Clan. But, as Temari had to keep reminding herself, there were currently only three people and a dog. Naruto had only planned for three houses so far, and possibly a fourth building that would either be a greenhouse or a place for Akamaru to sleep when the weather was bad. Temari was betting on a greenhouse, since the only time she'd seen Akamaru sleeping outside was when she'd first come across him and Hinata in the woods. Now the only choice involved in where he slept was which woman he wanted to be closer to.

"Well, it's not going to make the high and mighty Hyuuga jealous," Temari concluded, "but anything they'd want probably wouldn't feel right for us."

"I don't know, nee-chan; two or three of them aren't so bad," Naruto offered as he suddenly popped up behind her.

It was with great effort that Temari resisted the urge to whirl around and bring her fan crashing down over his head. Honestly, it was almost as if he wanted to get hit, going around sneaking up on her like that. "So what do you think?" she asked as calmly as she could, turning to face him.

He shrugged. "What are you asking me for? We needed to clear away the trees, and you obviously did that. It's perfect!"

Temari sighed and rolled her eyes. "Maybe I'll just wait until Hinata gets here so I can ask her."

"You can't, that's why I'm here," Naruto informed her. "Baa-chan wants you, and she says it's really important."

"Why didn't she send Shizune?"

He shrugged again. "I was on my way out here, anyway."

Temari frowned thoughtfully. She hadn't actually spoken to Tsunade one-on-one in a long time. The last time had been a few months before Tsunade gave up being Hokage. Ever since then, the older woman had become something of a recluse, and only Naruto and Sakura had had any significant contact with her until recently. Temari had never actually felt that close to Tsunade; they'd mostly been cordial out of necessity during her reign, and had occasionally clashed over who was being tougher on Naruto, but beyond that they'd never really talked unless they absolutely had to. Still, Tsunade was the closest thing Naruto had to a mother, and there was no real reason to refuse her.

"Okay, I'm going," she relented after another moment. "Make sure Hinata gets a good look around before you do anything else here. I don't want to find out later that the house is on top of an old burial ground or something."

"We wouldn't need as many traps if it was," Naruto reasoned. "We could just tell everybody we've got ghosts."

Temari rolled her eyes as she walked past him. "I'd take my chances moving in with Shikamaru's folks before I lived in a haunted house. Even if the ghosts would be quieter."

* * *

Tenten carefully sipped the tea that Tsunade had prescribed for her, and tried not to giggle at the startled expression on Shizune's face when the baby kicked for the sixth time inside a minute.

"Either you're going to have a fighter, or your baby just really hates tea," Shizune concluded, slowly pulling her hand away.

"Can't be the last one," Tenten replied. "I was getting kicked all the time before you two started pouring tea down my throat. It doesn't really seem to change anything, although I could swear the kicking just stops from time to time. Like last night, for example."

"Anything different happen then?" Shizune asked curiously.

Tenten shrugged. "I don't think so. I was feeling a little tired, so we went to bed early. I fell asleep while Neji was rubbing my feet. He must have been talking to the baby again, because this morning he was practically hanging off the edge of the bed."

Shizune couldn't help smirking at the mental image. "He does that a lot?"

"Not in public, of course. Only Naruto and Lee don't care where they are when they do it. Though, the baby would hear Lee if he was anywhere near me, so I don't mind so much. But if Naruto tries to bribe the baby to come out early one more time, Neji will probably strangle him."

"He's just excited for you, I'm sure. He can't wait to start his own family."

"I just thought he wanted someone to play with."

"Well, that, too," Shizune agreed with a laugh. "But if anyone deserves a family, it's him. Hinata seems like she wants to wait a little longer to have kids, though. I think she wants to get some practice looking after your child first."

"Fine with me," Tenten said as she finished her tea. "I'm going to need a babysitter at some point, and she's probably the only one Neji would approve of. That reminds me, I'm supposed to meet her later. Is my hour up yet?"

Shizune nodded. "Yes, but there's something Tsunade-sama wants to discuss before you go. She should be back any minute now."

It struck Tenten as odd that Tsunade had stepped out early. Even when their appointments finished ahead of schedule, Tsunade stuck around to make sure that Tenten stayed off of her feet and relaxed for the rest of the hour. Granted, that was nothing Shizune couldn't do, but Tsunade normally insisted on doing it herself. These days Tsunade only dealt directly with patients beyond anyone else's help, or at the request of Naruto and Sakura, so it wasn't as if she had more than a handful of people to keep an eye on.

When Tsunade did return a short time later, she was not alone. Tenten tried not to be too obvious about staring at Temari, but from the look on the Sand-nin's face, they were both thinking the same thing: Temari didn't look pregnant or sick, so why was she here?

"Ah... I didn't realize you were so busy today, Tsunade-sama," Tenten apologized hastily, starting to stand up.

Tsunade frowned and firmly pushed Tenten back down into her seat. "Well, I am, but this next part concerns you, too, so get comfortable. That goes for you as well, Temari."

Grunting quietly, Temari took a seat and accepted the tea that Shizune offered her, but made no immediate move to drink it.

"I'll get straight to the point. Hanabi recently reminded me that there are certain... aspects of the Hyuuga bloodline that need to be safeguarded, especially if that bloodline is poised to exist outside of the Hyuuga Clan for the first time... well, ever, to my knowledge. To that end, you're both here today because you're, in a sense, doubly responsible. Tenten, you're carrying the heir of the Hyuuga Clan. Temari, you'll no doubt be entrusted to watch over a child with the Hyuuga bloodline in the near future. You both need to be properly prepared for the worst-case scenario."

"You mean those sticks up their butts are genetic?" Temari asked in false shock.

Shizune looked deeply offended, Tenten just rolled her eyes, and Tsunade ignored the outburst completely.

"You need to know what to do, should any of them end up with Hanabi's... talent. According to clan records, it's a very rare ability, but better safe than sorry. If not controlled upon manifestation, things could get very dangerous very quickly. I'm going to teach you both a temporary sealing jutsu. Only select full-blooded Hyuuga and myself know how to apply a permanent seal. Hanabi wanted to ensure that you two would be able to quickly handle any incidents that might occur with the children."

"Does Hinata know?" Tenten asked softly.

Tsunade smiled slightly. "Hinata has... her own personal sealing method. Although, her seal might prove too overwhelming for an average Hyuuga child, since it compensates for two bloodlines at once. But the seal I'm going to teach you specifically requires that Hyuuga blood be present in the person being sealed. Now, let's get started."

* * *

Being a representative of the Godaime Kazekage was virtually a never-ending job, so Temari was used to being something of a diplomat. She knew when it was best to be tactful, and when it was best to be extremely blunt. On the other hand, rarely did she actually care personally for the people she dealt with.

In short, she knew it was her duty to say something to Tenten, but wasn't quite sure what. The woman was carrying Naruto and Hinata's niece or nephew, after all. Ironically, it was the simple fact that Tenten was pregnant which gave her so much trouble accessing her chakra. Tsunade had obviously known that, and hadn't been at all surprised when Tenten could not perform the first stage of the sealing jutsu. All of the women had been expecting that, so no one but Tenten was disappointed.

Temari felt guilty for getting the seal right on her first try. She wasn't trying to show off; it was just that she took things very seriously where the future of Naruto's clan was involved, and being able to help protect his children was very high on her list. Of course, that only made Temari feel worse later on, because it occurred to her that despite Tenten's best effort, she had failed in something that might one day save her child from pain and misery.

Treating Tenten to lunch was perhaps not the best way to apologize, but Tenten, mindful that she was eating for at least two now, had quickly accepted, and Temari felt marginally better. It was a little weird, walking down the street with their arms looped, but Tenten had gotten used to being escorted everywhere, and she jokingly claimed it might throw her off balance if she didn't have someone holding onto her arm.

"Anyway, we're sisters now," Tenten had said without really thinking about it. "No one's going to care."

Temari very nearly asked if Neji felt that way, but decided against it. This far into the pregnancy, Neji would probably instantly agree to anything Tenten said... even if she had picked up the idea of there being no such thing as in-laws from Naruto. He was the only person who hugged Hanabi nearly every time he saw her... and, oddly enough, also the only person who could get away with it. It was strange to see them together, with or without Hinata, but family would always be important to Naruto, and if anyone could understand the way he felt, it was Hanabi.

"So, how's this whole pregnancy thing going for you?" Temari asked abruptly.

Tenten laughed for nearly a whole minute. "I should probably thank you for just coming out and asking. It's no picnic, but... okay, considering how much I've eaten today alone, maybe it IS a picnic. Several, really, but that's only part of it. My feet ache almost constantly, this baby kicks me whenever it likes, and I miss my old figure. But I know it's all going to be worth it. I've wanted a child of my own for so long, and I'll have plenty of help." She paused, making an odd face. "Great. I think it must have heard me."

Temari hesitated. "Can I...?"

"Sure. Maybe you can help me figure out what settles it down."

Temari slowly placed her hand on Tenten's belly. "Wow. And it's like this all the time?"

"More than normal, apparently. I like to think that means my baby is really healthy. Naruto thinks it's trying to dance, Lee thinks it's 'harnessing youthful power' or something crazy like that."

Shaking her head, Temari leaned down a bit. "Hey, take it easy on your mother, kid. You think it's bad inside her now, wait until you see what your father looks like from the outside."

Tenten very nearly scowled at her, but decided against it when she realized the baby had stopped kicking. "That's it, you're coming home with me tonight."

"Why, so I can tell Neji to his face?"

"No, so I can get to sleep without being kicked, that's why. And if you can get the baby to settle down on command, Neji will be lucky if I even let him into the bed."

Normally, Temari hated being used. But if she was going to help Tenten AND give Neji a hard time all at once, well, how could she refuse?

* * *

Tenten was trying to pay attention to what Hinata was telling her, but it was pretty challenging, what with Naruto talking directly to her belly. He'd been at it ever since Temari had brought her to Naruto's apartment, and on some level, Tenten was enjoying the attention too much to make him stop.

"It wasn't Temari specifically the baby was responding to," Hinata explained. "It was her voice: the volume, the tone, everything. But from all indications, having anyone talk to it in such a way causes it to stop and listen, for a while. As near as I can tell, your baby is just... very attentive. It seems to know when people are directly addressing it, assuming they talk loudly enough." She blushed, obviously recalling that it had taken a few tries before the baby had been able to hear her.

"So all I really need is someone talking to the baby regularly?"

Hinata nodded. "It does seem to help," she added, smiling as Naruto began to lightly drum his fingers on Tenten's belly while humming. "You could also try music. Any kind of... well, good vibrations should work."

Temari crossed her arms over her chest and grunted, clearly disappointed that the baby hadn't been responding to just her. Tenten smiled and patted her knee soothingly.

Having been on the receiving end of one of Temari's infamous grumpy moods more than once, Hinata decided to change the subject a bit. "So, Tsunade-sama tells me you and Neji don't want to know whether it's a boy or a girl yet."

"That's right," Tenten replied. "I mean, we WANT to know, me especially, but... it'd be too easy to get our hopes up either way. I want a girl, but I can tell Neji really wants a boy, and I'm hoping that just holding the baby will make him forget all of his expectations. It doesn't really matter to me what we have, but Neji seems pretty set on only having one child, and if it's a girl, I don't want him to resent her."

"Neji wouldn't do that," Naruto said suddenly, raising his head to look at Tenten. "He might be a little grumpy at first, but he'd get over it fast. Besides, a little girl would remind him of Hinata or Hanabi-chan, and you see how he is around them. If you do have a girl, you'll be lucky if Neji ever lets you hold her."

"You really think so?" Tenten asked hopefully.

"I know so," he replied at once. "Anyway, I smelled-"

"Naruto!" Hinata hissed, her eyes flashing angrily.

Naruto instantly snapped his mouth shut, looking both wounded and miserable.

"What? What did he smell?" Tenten asked, sensing she was missing something.

Hinata sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Tenten. It's just... we know what the baby's going to be. So does Hanabi-chan, and Tsunade-sama. Mind you, I think we all figured it out on our own. In Naruto's case, he can... um, detect the change in your scent somehow."

"That's not the best way to put it, but I can't really explain it any better," Naruto added with a guilty look. "Sorry."

"That doesn't explain how you know," Tenten pointed out, staring at Hinata.

"I... I peeked," Hinata whispered, lowering her head. "I couldn't help it. I had to know that the baby was safe. If anything bad happened to you or the baby, it would destroy Neji."

Tenten couldn't really be mad at them, and she knew it. Naruto had an excellent sense of smell, and Hinata was a gifted medic-nin. If anyone could detect a problem with the baby early on, they'd be near the top of the list. Actually, she was surprised that Neji hadn't put them up to it himself.

"You're not mad, are you, Tenten?" Naruto asked. "We just want you and the baby to be healthy, that's all."

"I'm not mad," Tenten murmured, brushing tears from her eyes. "I'm just very, very lucky, and I'm only realizing it now."

"Hey, no crying! Do you have any idea what Neji would do to me if he finds out you started crying here?"

Tenten let out a noise that was half-laugh and half-sob before she completely lost it, burying her face in Naruto's shoulder as the tears practically poured from her eyes.

"I'm dead for sure now," Naruto groaned, even as he rubbed Tenten's back.

**End of Chapter 4.**

* * *

Endnotes:

Irihi: evening/setting sun (virtually the same as Yuuhi, Kurenai's family name)

Hiazashi: sunlight, rays of the sun, or sunlight strong enough to cause sunburn.

I'd never had the... ah, experience of being near a pregnant woman for more than a few hours, so I don't know how accurate my depiction is. But considering Tenten's overall attitude, and the fact that we know nothing of her family (which leads me to think maybe she's an orphan like Naruto, although perhaps her family died later in her life), I think it's fairly realistic. Also, this is the only chapter where she'll be pregnant for that very same reason.

* * *

**Omake!**

Neji thought some part of him should probably be angry, but he just couldn't manage it properly. He looked down again, staring intently at the small, bundled form that stared, somewhat sleepily, back up at him.

"So. You are... my daughter. My Irihi."

Apparently not impressed with the observation, Hyuuga Irihi yawned softly and closed her little milky lavender eyes.

Holding his breath, Neji carefully brushed his fingertips against her cheek, and wondered if he would ever get used to what he was currently feeling. It was both pride and confusion. This was his child, but... what was he supposed to do with a girl? Tenten would probably know, but certainly there were things he was responsible for teaching as well.

He glanced across the hospital lobby, where Sakura and Ino were talking to the receptionist. Somehow, he hadn't been surprised to learn that they'd both ended up pregnant on virtually the same day. On the other hand, he had been surprised to learn that the father of Ino's child was not only in ANBU, but killed in action less than a week later. Neji could only imagine how Lee was going to keep his sanity with two pregnant women to take care of. But then, only Lee would've insisted that Sakura's best friend move in with them.

Sighing, Neji held Irihi a little closer, and knew what he had to do. He couldn't possibly leave Tenten in the same situation as Ino. Even if he knew nothing about raising a little girl, at least he could be there to learn every step of the way.

He suddenly became aware that he was not alone, and looked up to see Temari gazing at the baby in his lap.

"Poor kid. She looks exactly like you."

Neji glared at her, then lowered his head and very carefully shifted Irihi to a more comfortable position.

"That could be a good thing, though. She'll scare off all the boys."

That got Neji's attention. "Boys? What boys?"

Temari shrugged. "The boys that'll be trying to go out with her one day, of course."

Neji's face hardened. "I'll kill them before they get anywhere near her."

She laughed and smacked him on the shoulder. "And who says you don't know anything about being a father?"

He blinked, uncertain as to whether she was paying him a compliment, or just being sarcastic.

"Hey, can I hold her for a minute?" Temari asked.

Neji frowned and cradled Irihi a little closer to his body. "No."

"Why not? The nurse showed me how to hold her and everything!"

"You might crush her," Neji replied. "I've seen the size of your arms. They're practically the same as Naruto's."

"That's not true!" Temari protested, though she was smiling a little. "I mean, I know I'm tough, but-"

"Did... did you have trouble? With boys?" he asked quietly.

She blinked and grinned. "Well, no. Most were too afraid, and the ones that weren't... let's just say I got plenty of practice with my fan and leave it at that. And I might even be willing to give your kid some tips when she gets older. That is, IF I get to hold her now."

Grumbling, Neji reluctantly surrendered his daughter to Temari. "If you drop her..."

"It'll make her tough." Temari laughed at the outraged expression on Neji's face as he begin to reach for the baby again. "I'm kidding!" She turned away to prevent him from snatching Irihi back. "Don't you worry, Irihi-chan," she whispered loudly to the bundle. "I'd never drop you."

Neji felt slightly sick as he watched Temari, a woman he'd feared and hated for a good portion of his life, dissolve into a giggling, gushy mess that occasionally spouted off nonsensical words and peppered Irihi's face with butterfly kisses.

And somewhere deep down, he knew he'd probably be doing the same thing by the end of the week.

Forcing that thought from his mind, Neji looked up to see Sakura and Ino walking over to them. On the plus side, he and Tenten would be able to make use of all the things Sakura had given them over the past months. Ino had been betting on a boy, though, so many of her gifts wouldn't be as helpful. Although, if she ended up having a boy, they could unload them right back on her...

"How's your first official day of fatherhood treating you, Neji?" Ino asked with a wicked smile. "Feeling old yet?"

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I wouldn't know. Every five minutes, another strange woman comes along and snatches Irihi away from me." He looked pointedly at Temari, who stuck out her tongue at him. "I suppose one of you will be next."

"Well, if you're already expecting it, we wouldn't dare let you down," Sakura replied brightly.

Neji grunted and tried his best to pretend they weren't there.

Naturally, Ino sat down next to him so it would be even harder to ignore her.

"You're so lucky to have a little girl, Neji. Just think of all the fun things you can do with her. You can buy her clothes that show off her figure..."

"And you'll be there to have a long talk with her when she becomes a woman," Sakura added.

Neji glared at her. "There will be absolutely no boys."

"I didn't mean THAT. Well, not yet, anyway. I mean when she has her first... y'know."

He stared at her blankly.

"You... do know, don't you?" Sakura asked slowly.

It finally dawned on Neji what she was referring to. "That's Tenten's job," he said firmly. "We discussed it. And I had her put it in writing. Twice."

"Uh huh," Ino said, smiling knowingly at Sakura. "And when's the last time you actually saw that particular document?"

Neji tried to remember. Tenten had signed it, and then he'd put it away somewhere safe. Actually, he'd started to put it somewhere safe, and then Tenten's clothes had mysteriously fallen off, and then...

Well, to make a very long, pleasurable night very short, he'd never seen the document after that point.

Ino patted his shoulder sympathetically, able to figure out the answer from the hopelessly lost expression on his face. "Don't worry, Neji. I'll be happy to go with you when you're sent out to buy Irihi's first 'little helper'. You can even say it's for me, if you want."

"And why would I be buying them for you?" Neji demanded. "That's even more humiliating!"

"Oh yeah? You'd be lucky if I even let you-"

"Is this REALLY a conversation you want Irihi to recall later on?" Sakura hissed, glaring at the two of them.

Neji sighed and shook his head, doing his best to ignore Ino's angry muttering, which was something along the lines of, "Try to do the jerk a favor... see if I'm ever nice to HIM again..."

"Don't sweat it, Neji," Temari said, smiling evilly as she rocked Irihi slowly in her arms. "I'd be happy to go with you instead."

A second later, Neji was on his knees before Ino, begging her to reconsider.


	5. Allied Forces

Notes: This chapter is set some time before Part 8 of WDN.

Summary: Naruto finally founds his clan... outside of Konoha.

**Building Clan Uzumaki**

**Chapter 5: Allied Forces**

**A Naruto Fanfic by**

**Nate Grey (XMAN0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Naruto," Temari said for the third time. "Why do you have to say anything? You know what'll happen if you do."

Naruto sighed as he tugged on a shirt. "Because there are going to be questions. There already are questions. People are going to want to know why I'm getting special treatment, and I don't want them to think I haven't earned it."

"You don't owe them an explanation!" Temari snapped. "If you ask me, you don't owe them a damn thing! What have they ever done for you?"

He shrugged. "Well, they didn't kill me."

"Not for lack of trying! And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Kyuubi had more to do with you staying alive."

"Exactly. And he thinks it's a good idea."

Temari stared at him, blinking slowly. "He... does?"

"Yeah. You know he loves showing off."

"Show...? Oh, wait just a minute, Naruto! You said you would TELL them! You never said ANYTHING about SHOWING them!"

Naruto grinned at her over his shoulder. "You have to admit it's a pretty fantastic story. I mean, who would believe me if I didn't have some proof?"

"I did," Temari muttered.

"That's different. You saw it happen to someone else first. You were probably ready to believe anything by the time we met."

"I never believed I'd meet someone else like Gaara was back then. And to be honest, I don't think anyone else ever should. You have no idea how bad it can really get, Naruto. And now that you've got others to think about, it's really not a good idea!"

He shook his head. "I'm doing this BECAUSE I have others to think about. People need to know what I'm capable of. They need to know what I will do, and what I'll have license to do, now that I'm..." He trailed off, biting his lip. "I just think they need some warning, that's all. They've trained themselves to hate. It's only fair that I give them a chance to realize that what they hate has been saving them all along."

Temari sighed. "I really wish you'd change your mind."

He smiled faintly as he walked over and hugged her lightly. "Sorry, nee-chan. I can't. I need to do this for Hinata, our kids, and you. I want you guys to be safe, and this is the best way I can think of. Kakashi-sensei, Anko, and Ibiki helped me work it all out with the Council of Elders, and you know that wasn't easy. It's too late to change my mind. I have to do this, and I need you tell me you'll be with me."

She closed her eyes and returned the hug. "You know I will. But you have to realize this could go really badly."

Naruto just chuckled. "I'm pretty sure it won't. Anko came up with an idea that just might help."

Temari frowned at him. "Naruto, what did I tell you about listening to that woman?!"

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto is the strongest ninja in Konoha."

Anko could only roll her eyes at the response from the crowd at that statement. There were a lot more cheers than she'd been expecting, but there was definitely some fear and concern, too.

"Don't even bother acting all surprised, since he has been for a long time now. Actually, there's pretty much no way he wouldn't have gotten there eventually. Now is just the first time anyone's decided to let you all in on why that is. Mind you, that was his decision, and he has no real obligation to let anyone know. Hell, he was practically ordered not to let anyone know. Which of course means that nearly half of you DO know, but hopefully you were smart enough not to spread it around. Anyway, we've asked you all to come here today because there's something Naruto would like to say. Whether you love him, hate him, or don't give a rat's ass about him, you'll want to hear this, trust me."

Again, the reaction was mixed as Naruto stepped forward. He was more resigned than surprised, but it no longer mattered. Nothing they could've said or done would change his mind now.

"Very few people know the story I'm about to tell. But I think it's time you all finally understood how close this village has come to destruction on numerous occasions." He paused to take a deep breath. "Right before I became a genin, I stole a scroll from the Sandaime Hokage's home. It contained several forbidden jutsu, among other things. In the hands of any ninja, it was extremely dangerous. In my hands... supposedly, I could've burned this entire village to the ground with ease. I could have. I didn't. That was the same day I found out something that would change my life, and had been changing it from the very start.

"I found out that there were people who didn't care whether I lived or died. I found that there were people who would kill me before they'd believe a single word I said. I found out that there were at least two people who could accept me for what I was, and what I wasn't. And they all lived in this very village. More importantly, I realized that I had the power to either protect or destroy everyone around me. On that day, I chose to protect.

"But some time later, I was faced with the same decision again, when I met someone who shared the same fate as mine. He was the first person who could even begin to understand what it felt like to be me. The only difference between us was that he'd decided early on that there was nothing wrong with destroying people. It was what he lived for. And if I had done nothing, he would've destroyed this village and everyone in it. By then, I had made friends. There were people I cared about here. So I chose to stand in his way, and we nearly destroyed each other. But from that battle, I came to understand how much worse my life could've been, if I'd been born in another village. I saw how people like me were used as weapons. True, that's no different from how most shinobi are treated, but when the mission is over, they're still thought of as human beings. I was considered an animal, a monster with an insatiable bloodlust. Few would've missed me if I were killed in action, or just killed, period.

"And you know something? No matter how unfair my life was, I couldn't complain. How could I? Everything that made sense to me was an insult to the rest of you. I used to hate the Yondaime Hokage. Because he wasn't strong enough, I have to suffer. All he did was die, meanwhile I'm the one stuck doing all the real work. Yet he's the hero, and I'm the monster. Did anybody ever stop to think what would've happened if there was no baby to seal Kyuubi inside of? You'd all be dead or worse. And if I was even half the monster some of you made me out to be, you'd be dead all over again. But I don't remember anybody asking me if I wanted to be a human sacrifice, and I sure as hell don't remember anybody thanking me for housing the worst demon of all inside me, not only so it wouldn't kill you, but so that none of you had to be the sacrifice. And yet, somehow it's my fault that Kyuubi is still alive. I didn't ask for this. Nobody in their right mind would. Why do you think it had to be a baby that couldn't speak for itself?"

"You have to realize that I'm not Kyuubi. Hell, I hate him, too. He only killed some of you, but he's actually INSIDE me. How do you think that makes me feel? Actually, you don't have to worry about that. All most of you ever concerned yourselves with was that I was in no position to destroy you, and that you could use me as a weapon. I am the strongest one in this village, and once again, I have to choose whether to turn my back on it, or serve it. I finally understand what it means to be Hokage. I've spent my whole life protecting people, whether they deserved it or not. But if it means that one day, I might have to do to someone else the same thing that was done to me? I want no part of it.

"I'm done saving your ungrateful asses and getting no respect for it. From now on, you're going to know when Uzumaki Naruto stepped in and saved your necks. Because you'll only have the right to call on me when no one else can get the job done. Congratulations, Konoha. You finally got your pet demon. But I don't do tricks, and I don't beg. As soon as I'm done with this speech, my family and I are leaving this village. Our new home is less than a mile away, but the important thing is that it's outside the village. You step onto my property, and only my rules apply. But it'd be a lot smarter if you just considered us a small, allied country like the Office of the Rokudaime is going to. As for me personally, when I am in the village or on a mission, I'll have the same power as an ANBU captain.

"Some of you are probably wondering why I'm doing this. The answer is simple. I love this village... but I love my children more. And I refuse to take the risk that some of you might be as cruel to them as you were to me. There's no need to worry about them being possessed by Kyuubi, either. Because if you mess with them, I'll have no problem with letting the real Kyuubi out to discuss my grievances. In fact, maybe it's better that you hear it directly from him..."

* * *

"I don't understand, oba-san," six-year-old Irihi whined, tugging on Hinata's hand. "Why do you have to move? Your other place was closer to my house..."

"We explained this to you before, Irihi-chan," Hinata said patiently as they toured the new house. "The apartment was too small. And in a few more months, Naruto and I are going to have children. There just wouldn't be enough room where we were, which is why we built these new houses."

"You could put the babies in my room! Then you could stay with us!"

Hinata almost laughed, but she could tell that her young niece was all too serious. "That's very sweet of you to offer, Irihi-chan, and I really do appreciate it. But my family needs it's own space to grow, and it wouldn't be right to intrude on yours. Besides, you know that only the Hyuuga can live where you do. This place is going to be for the Uzumaki to live in."

"But I won't be able to visit you if you're all the way out here!" Irihi cried, very near tears. "I'm not allowed to leave the village by myself yet!"

Sighing softly, Hinata knelt down and drew Irihi into a warm hug. "Please don't cry, Irihi-chan. You know Naruto and I will still come to visit you. And I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind bringing you to see us. It won't be so bad, I promise."

"Will I get to see you every other day, at least?" Irihi asked softly.

Hinata wasn't sure if she could safely promise that, so she said the only thing she could. "I don't know. But at the very least, you'll see Temari and Akamaru every day. And it's not as if you won't know where we are, even when you don't see us."

Irihi sniffled. "I still wish you didn't have to move away..."

"I know," Hinata murmured, gently brushing the girl's tears from her face. "But before you know it, you'll be a big girl, and then you'll be able to come and see us all by yourself. I'm going to need someone to teach my children how to behave, after all. And who could teach them better than their older cousin?"

"Nobody," Irihi replied quietly, wiping her nose on her arm.

"That's right. Now, why don't you go get cleaned up while I talk to your father?"

Wordlessly, Irihi nodded and headed for the bathroom.

Hinata sighed as she stood up and moved to the front door, not surprised to see Neji staring intently at the village gates, as if he hadn't been listening to the whole conversation. "I didn't know she would take it so hard. I thought if I walked with her, and showed her how close we were to the village, she wouldn't mind our moving so much."

Neji shook his head. "It's not the distance that bothers her, Hinata. It's that you're outside of the village, one of the many places she isn't allowed to go alone. She feels as if we're forbidding her from seeing you. I've tried to explain it to her, but she's just too young to understand. Her mind can't accept that there might be people who don't adore you and Naruto the way she does."

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"It will take some time, but I believe she'll come to accept this. Once she realizes that she's not being punished, Irihi will be fine." A small smirk appeared on his lips. "Anyway, I have no doubt that Naruto will come up with a wide variety of excuses to spend time with her. She probably won't even be able to miss you properly."

Neji was right, of course. It was watching Naruto with Irihi that had ultimately convinced Hinata he would make a good father. He was never too busy to play with her, wouldn't hesitate to give her a piggyback ride no matter where they were, and would grin merrily at any Hyuuga who tried to inform him that he should treat their heiress with more respect. But it was quite plain to Naruto, and Hinata as well, that Irihi didn't want their respect, at least not yet. She was far more interested in having fun, which was why she loved tagging along with Naruto. And despite how adventurous Irihi was, somewhere along the way, she'd developed a fondness for curling up in Hinata's lap and falling asleep. Hinata could never quite bring herself to wake up her niece when that happened, nor would she even dream of asking Irihi to stop.

Yet it was more than just blood that bound them to Irihi. She was the type of person that would one day be able make a lifelong friend inside five minutes, armed with nothing more than a smile and a positive attitude. There was something in the way that the girl approached virtually everyone she met that put them at ease. It was the simple promise that, if someone should choose to call Irihi a friend, she would do everything in her power to continuously earn that title, whether it was necessary or not. The fact that she was also the Hyuuga heiress only made this trait even more remarkable.

But this also meant that Irihi could be clingy to a fault, especially if she thought she was losing a friend. She was also painfully aware that there simply were no relatives on her mother's side, and so Irihi was doubly determined to hang onto the family she did have.

So while this was a necessary lesson, it was not one that Hinata looked forward to teaching. She especially felt bad when Irihi finally emerged from the house, her face scrubbed clean, but her eyes a light shade of pink from shedding tears.

"Come, Irihi," Neji said simply, walking away from the house. "Your mother is expecting us back soon."

"Yes, Papa," Irihi replied quietly. With one final, heartfelt glance at Hinata, she hurried to catch up with her father, falling in step with him with the ease of long practice.

Hinata watched until they vanished inside the gates of Konoha. Then, with a sigh, she headed around the house to find Akamaru. It would be at least a few more hours before Naruto and Temari returned, and for some reason Hinata didn't like the idea of spending the afternoon by herself. Not today, at least.

* * *

Naruto winced as he stared down at his shoulder. "Damn, Hanabi-chan. That really stings!"

"Then I performed the jutsu correctly," Hanabi replied smoothly, brushing the new mark on his shoulder more out of procedure than any actual concern. "And you shouldn't complain. The pain is much worse without near-instant healing." She gave him a look that was just shy of a smirk, but still seemed all-knowing, in Naruto's opinion.

"Yeah, well, you could've warned me," he muttered, pouting a bit as he leaned back in his chair.

Hanabi glared at him, applying more pressure than was necessary to the wound. "Just as you could have told me that you were joining ANBU, if only at half capacity."

"Ow! OW! Okay, I'm sorry!" Naruto cried, pulling away from her. "What are you so mad about? You did it, too!"

"That was different. We were not family or even friends then. Now you are Hinata's husband, and I expect to know when you are about to do something so potentially stupid, especially if it involves Hinata's peace of mind."

"But that's why I did it, and I already talked it over with her!" he protested. "Look, I know it means I'll be taking on really dangerous missions. But it also means I'll be taking on less missions overall. I'll have more time with Hinata, and-"

"You should not be taking on such missions alone, Naruto-san."

He blinked, relaxing slightly. "Oh, that's no problem. Temari would come with me, of course."

"As would onii-san," Hanabi added at once.

Naruto frowned. "Neji? Well, maybe, but-"

"Or myself, if I deemed it necessary."

He scowled at her. "I might as well take Hinata, too, if you think I'm suddenly so helpless."

"I suspect she would be more than happy to accompany you. And it would help make up for you not having a squad to command. I would not even be opposed to Haruno joining you."

"Hold on! I didn't get into this so everybody could start volunteering to back me up!"

"I realize that," Hanabi replied. "Just as you realize that I have had experience at this sort of thing, and that you would be wise, or at least not completely idiotic, to listen to my advice."

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. "Maybe, but I don't ever remember Konohamaru and Kouji saying you let them work with you in ANBU."

"And that is precisely why I am now insisting that you have people you trust beside you for every mission. Even though I knew they were not suited for such work, there were times when I would've given anything to have my teammates with me." She paused, and then glared at him. "And if you ever breathe a word of that to anyone-"

He chuckled, waving off her obvious threat. "Relax, Hanabi-chan. You know I'd never betray your trust. But I do think you should at least tell Konohamaru. The worst it could do is make his day."

"I will consider it. However, you should know that I wasn't making a suggestion when I said you should take my advice. Ibiki-sensei thought it would be best if I were your handler."

"My... what?" Naruto asked blankly.

Hanabi resisted the urge to sigh. "Your missions will come to me, and I will then give them to you, along with any special instructions or recommendations. This is standard procedure for delivering missions to allied shinobi. It just so happens that handlers are not usually retired from ANBU. We, however, have special circumstances."

"Because of Kyuubi?"

"Because I wouldn't let anyone else do it."

"Oh." Naruto blinked. "Why not?"

She gave him a look of slight annoyance. "Not more than an hour ago, you told the entire village that you were Kyuubi's vessel. I would rather not risk that someone in ANBU might send you on a mission you have no chance of coming back from."

"You mean you worked with them, and YOU don't trust them?"

"It was one of several reasons I retired, but that is not important. What is important is that you will be fully prepared for any real threats to your life."

Naruto scratched his head. "Is this a roundabout way of saying you're trying to protect me, Hanabi-chan?"

"No. I have never 'tried' to do anything in my life. I have every intention of actually protecting you, Naruto-san."

"But... it's so weird!" he exclaimed.

Hanabi stared at him blankly, clearly not seeing his point.

"I'm supposed to be the one protecting you! This way, it... just feels weird, is all. I mean, you're my little sister! Shikamaru would never let me hear the end of it, and Neji... ugh. Could we not tell anyone about this?"

For a long moment, Hanabi wasn't sure whether she should be outraged or murderous. It wasn't so much that he doubted her abilities, it was that he was embarrassed to have them working in his favor. She could never recall a time when she wanted to attack someone she wouldn't have normally as much as she did right then.

And Naruto went right on complaining, oblivious to how much danger he was in. "Hinata would probably laugh at me, too."

"I would think she would be far happier that I had kept you alive," Hanabi snapped.

He paused, finally getting a good look at her face. "Oh..." Naruto ducked his head, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry, Hanabi-chan. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Impulsively, he hopped to his feet and gave her a big hug.

Naruto's hugs were very odd things. Hanabi could never really seem to stay angry at him when he gave her one. It wasn't that she liked them; far from it, in fact. The hugs, much like Naruto himself, could be a bit overwhelming, and in those times Hanabi never knew quite how to react. Naruto made her question the way she normally approached things, and she hated being knocked off balance like that. But at the same time, she realized that these hugs were never given with such a devious nature in mind. Naruto just happened to be very affectionate, and so the idea of comforting someone with a hug was normal to him.

"I didn't mean to sound ungrateful. I'm glad that you want to protect me. I guess I'm just used to doing it myself, or counting on Temari or Sakura-chan to do it for me."

Hanabi scowled into his shoulder. "You can let go now."

Naruto grinned and held her a little tighter. "Yeah, I know. But you always look like you need a nice, long hug. And what kind of big brother would I be if I didn't give you what you need?"

"One that apparently enjoyed living."

"HA! You and your jokes, Hanabi-chan."

"Who said I was joking?" she muttered sourly.

* * *

As a rule, Temari didn't particularly like doing anyone's hair but her own. Sure, occasionally she might lick her fingertips and then run them through Naruto's hair, but that was more to see the look on his face and less about actual styling.

But on this particular occasion, she had been asked, and it was Irihi asking, so there was no real reason to say no. That, and the thought of Neji walking in to find his daughter wearing Temari's signature pigtails was too delicious to pass up.

Unfortunately, Irihi was proving far too moody to actually enjoy the experience. She was clearly still upset about the move, no matter who tried to explain it to her. Temari hadn't even bothered, knowing full well that the girl was too stubborn to accept it in one day. She took after several people that way, including her parents and a certain Sand jounin who would remain nameless.

Temari knew that Irihi would come around, though. She loved Naruto and Hinata too much to stay angry, and Akamaru knew just how to lick a little girl in a way that was more cute than disgusting. The whole incident would probably be forgotten in a week or so, with any luck.

"And you'll really come to see me every day?" Irihi asked, her tone just short of whining.

Then again, no one said it wouldn't be a long week.

"Well, not JUST to see you," Temari said quickly, securing the last lock of dark brown hair with one hand. "I'll be going back and forth to the bakery for Hinata. And my poor Shika would go nuts if I didn't drop in on his class every now and then. Then I have to go check on Sakura and Lee, make sure they haven't made their kid too weird already. Ino's too, now that I think about it. Can't be healthy for all of them to be under one roof all the time. But yeah, I'll be in the village every day, unless a mission comes up, and unless something goes wrong, there's no reason I wouldn't come check up on you. I expect I won't exactly need to, though, will I?"

"No," Irihi said quickly, determined to seem more grown-up than she actually was. "But... I'd really, really like it if you did, anyway."

"Of course you would. No one wants to stay away from me. Except your Papa, but he's dumb."

"He isn't!" Irihi laughed. "He just doesn't like it when you play with me. He's scared I'll end up like you."

"And you're not?" Temari asked.

"Nope. I'll end up like you, Naruto oji-san, and Hinata oba-san. A good mix, see?"

Temari shook her head. "You know, I think we need to find you some friends your own age. At some point, you're going to want them, and you can't run around playing with adults forever. That'll make you weird. Like your Papa."

Irihi ignored the shot at Neji more out of habit, since Temari tended to badmouth him every five minutes on a good day. "I don't want friends. Family's better. Akamaru told me so."

"Uh huh. You know only Hinata, Naruto, and the Inuzuka can hear him."

"I know, but I can still understand him. Whenever other kids come around, he drags me away. So I know I'm better off not talking to them."

Temari frowned thoughtfully. Akamaru wasn't usually the jealous type, although he definitely had a soft spot for Irihi. But he was one of the best security systems around, because not only could he sense powerful foes, he could pick up on negative emotions as well. And if he had pulled Irihi away from some kids her own age, then they weren't the friendly type. The only real question was if they didn't like her because she was a Hyuuga, or because of Naruto. It was no secret that Irihi was Naruto's niece, especially since she was rather proud of that fact, and would get into a shouting match with anyone who thought differently. Naruto had tried to talk her out of that habit, but she refused to be ashamed of him.

Temari sighed and patted Irihi's head. "I know making friends can be hard. But you have to try eventually. You know that once you become a ninja, you'll be put on a team. And it's much easier for everyone if you can be friends with your teammates."

"But I can worry about that later. Akamaru plays with me so I don't get lonely. And I don't want to hang out with anyone he doesn't like."

The girl had a point, but Temari wasn't willing to give up so easily. "Okay, but what about when you're older, and you start getting interested in dating? Nobody will come near you if Akamaru is still following you around."

Irihi shrugged. "So? I wouldn't like anyone that didn't like Akamaru, either. Besides, Akamaru follows you around, and you never mind it."

Temari poked her neck. "That's totally different. I've already caught someone, remember? Just promise me you'll give it some thought, okay?"

"Okay," Irihi sighed. "But I still like Akamaru better. At least when he smells bad, he's got a good reason."

* * *

"We should've brought the kid with us. It's not nearly as safe in there as they'd like to think."

Hinata looked up from her garden as Akamaru sat down beside her, staring off into the distance. "It's not as if we had a choice in that, Akamaru. Irihi isn't our child."

"So? We're family. We've got rights."

She smiled patiently. "Not nearly enough to take her from her parents, though."

Akamaru tossed his head in frustration. "How can you be so calm about this? The whole point of us moving was so YOUR kids would be safe when they get here! How can you just leave her in there? I'd bet anything she'd want to come stay here!"

Hinata sighed softly. "Akamaru, there are hundreds of Hyuuga in that village. Somehow, I think Irihi will be perfectly safe."

"What about when she goes to the Academy? Those brats could be mean to her!"

"I hate to say it, but that is a part of growing up. If we never give Irihi a chance to stand up for herself, she'd resent us. If she gets teased, and if she feels badly enough to tell one of us, then we'll act. But until then, I'd rather she handled it on her own."

"I don't like it. Not one bit." Akamaru flopped down into the grass, resting his head on his paws. "I mean, if she was my kid, I'd be right there every step of the-"

It was not the abrupt end to the sentence that got Hinata's attention, but the prolonged pause and the almost wicked way Akamaru growled.

"Akamaru, NO," she said sternly.

"What?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"You are NOT following Irihi to the Academy."

"I would never!" Akamaru protested. "Though, if I just happen to end up there around the same time she does..."

Hinata stood up and brushed off her hands. "Then she would spot you in a heartbeat."

"It's not like I'd be hiding! I WANT them to know I'm there! And if anyone's got the balls to mouth off to MY kid, then I-"

"Would bite a mostly defenseless child and get us reported?"

"Hey, you know I never bit anyone that didn't deserve it. And anyone that could look at that sweet little face and be mean to it, well, they're just asking for it!"

"You know," Hinata said at length, bending down to scratch behind his ears, "I certainly hope you'll be this insanely overprotective with my children."

"Why do you think I'm practicing now?" he asked, thumping his tail against the ground. "By the time they get here, I'll have it down to a science. And with any luck, the kid will be able to take over for me when I need a break."

"Don't you dare. She'd never go home."

"Remind me how that's a bad thing? We like the kid."

"Of course we do," Hinata replied, "but we can't keep her. That's kidnapping."

"No way. If she wants to stay, it's, um, voluntary visiting! And that's not a crime!"

"It is if the visiting never ends."

"Well, we have to do SOMETHING!" Akamaru insisted.

"Fine. You are going to calm down and take a nap, and I am going to start making dinner. And if you can go the rest of the day without mentioning kidnapping plots, you might get three cinnamon buns instead of the usual one."

"I can't be bribed with food, woman! You think I'll just-"

"Five cinnamon buns."

"I'll be good," Akamaru said at once.

Hinata giggled softly and rubbed his head. "Don't worry, Akamaru. I'm sure Irihi loves you just as much as you love her."

"Naturally. I happen to be very lovable," he informed her, looking rather smug.

"And cuddly," Hinata added, laying her head against his.

"And don't forget rabid."

Her head snapped up. "You are NOT rabid."

"True, but those snot-nosed little punks at the Academy won't know that."

"Four cinnamon buns," Hinata sighed, rising to go back inside the house.

"Oh, come on! I didn't say a word about kidnapping!"

"You didn't have to! I'm not about to reward you for biting a child!"

Akamaru considered that for a moment. "So I can definitely bite the parents?"

"THREE cinnamon buns!" Hinata called from the house.

His ears drooped. "Damn."

* * *

Dinner turned out to be a bit more complicated than Hinata had planned.

First, Naruto and Temari had brought Sakura along with no warning at all. Hinata didn't mind that so much, except that they nearly ran out of food, since Naruto was hungrier than usual.

And just when that small crisis had been averted, Naruto insisted on letting Kyuubi out for a while, since he'd kept his word about not hurting anyone in the village that afternoon. But while Temari had seen one of Kyuubi's clones before, Sakura hadn't, and things were a little uneasy at first.

Thankfully, Kyuubi was too preoccupied with making sure the houses were efficiently protected from intruders to tease Sakura or anyone else. Although he did manage a loud snort every time he either upgraded or completely redesigned a trap that had been Naruto's idea. Temari watched closely because she thought she might learn something, while Sakura was just more concerned about not getting blown up the next time she came to visit. Hinata's reason was twofold: she wanted to know where and what type of traps Kyuubi was setting, and if there were any that the Byakugan might not be able to detect for some reason. Not surprisingly, there were more than a few, and Kyuubi's reasoning for that was that if any Hyuuga had business with Naruto, he would go to them; otherwise, they could and would mind their own damn business. Hinata allowed it because most of the traps were in areas other than the main entrance, and especially concentrated in those that were most likely to be used for spying or invasion purposes.

There was a particularly heated discussion over how many of the traps could be lethal in nature. Hinata didn't like the idea of killing anyone without good reason, and Kyuubi preferred that no one could reach their doorstep before it was decided that they needed to die. Naruto came up with a compromise: the lethal traps had to be activated, not automatic. Of course, under that reasoning, Kyuubi all but covered the compound with them, some of which could only be safely touched by someone under his protection.

Several hours later, Hinata went to bed with a mild headache from using the Byakugan so much to double-check Kyuubi's work, but feeling far safer than she ever had. She had tried to stop thinking of Kyuubi as a demon, and tried to picture him more as a powerful fox spirit that lived inside Naruto. Unfortunately, Kyuubi was constantly saying things that reminded her of his true nature, usually on purpose. But since her way of thinking allowed them to interact more or less peacefully, he never directly opposed it. Still, she could see that he was going out of his way, not only to make her comfortable, but to keep their new home safe.

By the time Naruto joined her in bed, he was sweaty, had bits of grass and dirt stuck to him, and smelled slightly of blood and singed skin. Noticing her questioning gaze, he shrugged a bit sheepishly. "The traps work?" he offered with a hesitant smile, hoping she wouldn't be too mad.

With a small sigh, Hinata simply tucked her head under his chin, slid her arm around his waist, and closed her eyes. She knew the wounds would probably be completely gone by tomorrow, while the dirt and the smell would wash off. And since this was their first night in their new home, she could overlook them for now. She was far too tired to protest, and Naruto was most likely even more exhausted.

Although, she didn't care what Kyuubi claimed; wet dog definitely smelled much better than burned flesh.

**End of Chapter 5.**

* * *

Endnotes:

I have no idea how the ANBU tattoos are actually applied. But obviously the Hyuuga know something about permanent markings.

I don't know what the actual starting age for the Academy is, and I suspect some kids might start at different ages, depending on their parents and when they figure out they want to be ninja. But with clans like the Hyuuga, there's also going to be specialized training outside of (probably before, during, and after) the Academy stage, which might even take the place of the more general classes the Academy would offer. For example, kids originating from famous clans probably got the higher scores because they had so much additional knowledge before they even got into the classroom. All of which is a long way of explaining why Irihi isn't in the Academy yet.

Irihi might seem well developed for only being six. I'm not making her out to be a freak genius, as those are too common in Naruto. But on the other hand, the Hyuuga Clan has more than enough resources to saturate a child with knowledge, so I don't think it's that big a stretch. I mean, it CAN'T be. Irihi's just talking properly, not becoming a genin like some freaks I can think of. Then again, most of those people did end up with some major personality flaws, so early advancement probably comes with a price.

* * *

**Omake!**

"I think I'll go check on Irihi," Neji said abruptly, turning away from the bedroom window. "I haven't seen her since I dropped her off this afternoon."

Tenten looked up in the midst of letting her hair down for the evening. "I'm sure she's fine, Neji. Besides, I've never known you to baby her, not even when she actually was a baby."

"She's never really been this upset about anything before," Neji countered. "I just want to make sure she's asleep."

She made a big show of sighing loudly. "Fine. But I'm going with you, just so I can say I told you so. You're worrying over nothing, honestly."

Neji eyed his wife skeptically as she stood to join him, so much so that she finally noticed him staring.

"What?"

"You're going like that?"

"What do you mean?"

To illustrate his point, he poked tentatively at the bun on the left side of her head, then ran his fingers through the loose, straight hair on the right side.

Tenten scowled and batted his hand away. "Oh, grow up. She's not even going to see me. And the only reason I'm doing this now is because YOU can't trust our child to be mature. Now are you coming or not?"

"It's a little hard to be mature with you looking like that," he pointed out defensively, following her into the hallway.

"You do know I only need half of my hair undone to strangle you, right?"

He snorted. "I think I'd have noticed if you'd ever done that."

She glanced over her shoulder at him as they reached Irihi's room. "Even you can't see out the back of your head when you're asleep, Neji."

Even though he didn't quite believe her, Neji tried to recall if such an incident might have slipped his mind. He was distracted from that, however, when Tenten slid the door open, peeked into their daughter's room, made a sound that might have been a cough or a poorly disguised laugh, and closed the door before Neji could look in as well.

"I was right, she's asleep, time for bed!" Tenten said, her voice unusually high.

Neji frowned. "I'd like to see that for myself, if you don't mind."

"What? You don't trust your own wife?" she demanded.

"Not when she's acting like she's trying to hide a body, no," he replied. "You know I can look around you, if I have to."

Tenten shook her head. "Neji, do yourself a favor and don't look. You'll be happier that way, believe me."

If he'd felt like struggling a bit, Neji probably could've moved his wife by force. And he knew her well enough to know that if he activated his Byakugan, she might very well try to strangle him with her own hair, if she were desperate enough. Of course, the very idea that she might do such a thing only told him that he absolutely had to know what wasn't right with his daughter.

So he took the easy way out, knowing Tenten would make him regret it later, and tickled that spot on the side of her neck that never failed to make her melt into his arms. It had served him well in the past, and tonight was clearly no different, for Tenten was soon putty in his arms, so he took the opportunity to slide Irihi's door back open.

Neji stared.

And he stared some more, before quickly shutting the door.

He was quite certain that the sight that had met his eyes would be forever burned into his brain. Yet he wasn't quite sure what bothered him most.

That SOMEONE had dared to manipulate his daughter's hair into... THAT woman's signature style.

That SOMEONE had not only dared to sneak Akamaru into the Hyuuga compound, but had managed to get him into Irihi's room so that she could fall asleep draped across his back.

That SOMEONE had provided Irihi with a metal fan (seemingly made especially for small hands like hers) that was currently propped up against the wall.

Or, that SOMEONE had, in an outright act of defiance, given Irihi a Gaara plushie, which she was still clutching under her right arm as she slept (and had Neji dared to look closer, he no doubt would have noticed that this particular plushie was of the Limited Ultra-Special Edition variety, and had therefore actually been signed by the Kazekage himself).

By the time Tenten remembered what she was supposed to be doing, it was too late. Most of the color had already faded from Neji's cheeks, and were he anyone else, she might have thought that he was going to faint.

"Neji?" she ventured hesitantly, squeezing his arm. "I'm sure it's not as bad as you're thinking. She's probably just having a little fun at your expense, that's all."

"It's the curse all over again," Neji murmured faintly. "The Uzumaki Curse... it'll never leave me alone. And now... it's taken my daughter... my Irihi..."

"Don't you think you're being just a teensy bit overdramatic, Neji?"

Neji spun around to face her, his eyes wide in disbelief. "She has a FAN, Tenten! Next she'll sailing through the village on it, trash-talking and beating up kids for no reason! She'll be an absolute menace!"

Tenten covered her mouth with a hand, allowing a tear to slip from one eye. "I'm sorry," she murmured, shaking her head as she turned away from him. "I just pictured it..."

Neji sighed, reaching out to squeeze his wife's shoulder. "Don't worry, Tenten. I'm sure it's just a phase. It might even be over and done with as soon as next week."

"I... I just need a minute by myself," Tenten gasped, waving him off. "To take it all in. You understand..."

He nodded, briefly brushing his lips against her cheek before leaving her Tenten with her thoughts.

She waited until Neji was back in their bedroom before peeking in on Irihi again. The girl had rolled over so she was now lying on her back, but as she was still draped across Akamaru's back, it looked so uncomfortable that Tenten nearly winced. Still, Irihi gave no sign that she was in pain, and continued to snore softly, clutching her Gaara plushie tightly to her chest.

"My baby," Tenten whispered softly, tears in her eyes. "An absolute menace..." Without warning, a huge smile spread across her face. "I'm so proud!"


End file.
